What Judd Apatow backlash? For every New Yorker who happily proclaimed the end of the producer/director’s run of luck after the flops of Walk Hard and Drillbit Taylor, there was one (if not two, three or four) who ran out to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall (no. 1) this weekend. The comedy racked in $382,590 dollars of its total $17.5 million take here in the city with an incredibly strong $42,510 per screen average. Those are 21 numbers!
Not only is this apparent backlash hogwash, it’s clear that this denizens of this fair city love their native son (Syosset, represent!) more than the rest of the country, opting for the romantic comedy over the nation’s favorite, Forbidden Kingdom (no. 2), the action film starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan. So all of you Apatow haters, better think about moving: this is obviously Judd country—as long as he sticks to romantic comedies, of course.
One used to be able to say the same thing about Al Pacino, but not even he could save 88 Minutes (no .3) from its fate: a tepid box office reception. The film managed to break the $10,000 watermark, which means it will stick around in the top ten for at least another couple of weeks. But this one was doomed from the get-go by bad reviews and an ambiguous marketing campaign. Not your fault, Al, we know.
Following the national trend, films in their second weeks took the plunge over the weekend. Street Kings (no. 4), Prom Night (no. 5) and Smart People (no. 7) all averaged a 60 percent decline. The Visitor (no. 8) was only film in that category to buck the trend. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that it was only playing at two theaters.
List of theaters: Paris, Zeigfeld, Oprheum, East 85th St., 86th St. East, 84th St., Lincoln Plaza, 62nd and Broadway, Lincoln Square, Magic Johnson, 72nd St East, Cinemas 1, 2 &3rd Ave, 64th and 2nd , Imaginasian, Manhattan Twin, First and 62nd St., Angelika Film Center, Quad, IFC Center, Film Forum, Village East, Village Seven, Cinema Village, Union Square, Essex, Battery Park 11, Sunshine, 34th Street, Empire, E-Walk, Chelsea, 19th Street East, and Kips Bay.
Manhattan Weekend Box Office: How moviegoers in the multiplexes of middle America choose to spend their ten-spot is probably a big deal in Hollywood. But here in Manhattan, the hottest movies aren’t always the ones making the big bucks nationwide. Using Nielsen numbers for Manhattan theaters alone and comparing them to the performance of the national weekend box office can tell you a lot about our Blue State sensibilities. Or nothing at all! Each Monday afternoon, we will bring you the results.
