| November 2004 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
POLAR EXPRESS A BOMB – NOT. A lot of reports have stated that the film, The Polar Express, is bombing. This is not correct. Per Variety (no link):
| Title (weeks in release) | 5-day | engag. | $/engag | cume | % change* |
| 1. National Treasure (2) | $46.2m | 3,243 | $14,260 | $87.9m | -6 |
| 2. The Incredibles (4) | $33.2m | 3,453 | $9,622 | $214.7m | -9 |
| 3. Christmas with the Kranks (1) | $32.0m | 3,393 | $9,431 | $32.0m | — |
| 4. The Polar Express (3) | $27.2m | 3,650 | $7,444 | $82.2m | +28 |
| 5. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2) | $23.4m | 3,307 | $7,076 | $58.6m | -44 |
| 6. Alexander (1) | $21.6m | 2,445 | $8,847 | $21.6m | — |
| 7. Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason (3) | $9.1m | 2,473 | $3,680 | $32.5m | -33 |
| 8. Finding Neverland (3) | $6.5m | 513 | $12,749 | $7.8m | +462 |
| 9. Ray (5) | $5.0m | 2,585 | $1,934 | $65.0m | -15 |
| 10. After the Sunset (3) | $4.6m | 2,309 | $1,981 | $24.6m | -35 |
| NOTE: First column reports the full 5-day holiday weekend. The % change column compares 3-day spans, however. |
Polar Express was the only film that increased its box office over the week before, other than Finding Neverland, which did it by adding theaters. It’s quite rare for a film to show a week-to-week increase in box office, other than by adding theaters.
A NATION DIVIDED – NOT. An article in the U.K. paper, The Independent, notes that the film Alexander the Great did not do well over the weekend, and concludes:
...it has brutally exposed the cultural and moral divide which slices America in two.
...Meanwhile, 70 per cent of those who responded to a recent New York Times/CBS poll said they were very or somewhat concerned that television, movies and music were lowering moral standards in the US.
While the sentiment was voiced by both Republicans and Democrats, it appears that the concern about a decline in values is yet another point of polarisation in American politics.
If the great majority of people don’t go to see a movie, that is not evidence of a nation divided in two.
If the great majority of people (70%) agree on something, that is not evidence of a nation divided in two. It is in fact, evidence of the reverse.
