Compass not quite golden at the box office

Movies News

By M&C Movie News Dec 10, 2007, 12:14 GMT

New Line’s The Golden Compass took the top spot at the box office this weekend, but with only $26.1 million the release wasn’t as strong as the studio hoped.

Variety reports New Line was looking for the film, which was release to 3,528 theaters, to crank in between $30 million and $40 million from its debut weekend. The film is considered a flagship for the studio and had an estimated budget of at least $180 million.New Line, who has had a full media blitz for the past months to promote the film, spun its disappointment in the domestic performance to the solid job the film did overseas – where it managed to gross $55 million from 25 territories in its day-and-date release. Compass was directed by Chris Weitz and stars Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. The film is based on the first book of the Phillip Pullman trilogy “His Dark Materials.” Its story takes viewers into a new world where a person’s soul is contained in an animal and the government is controlled by dark forces.In Variety, New Line prexy-chief operating officer of worldwide marketing and distribution Rolf Mittweg stated: “We are a bit disappointed with the domestic opening, but we still think we are set up very well for the holiday. We are the first film out of the gate and will have good word of mouth and slow build. We should have a successful holiday season.”He further stated the studio has yet to greenlight the next film in Pullman’s trilogy, but again pointed the overseas performance of the film: “You need a respectable gross out of North America and a very strong international gross to do that.”The weekend was down 19 percent from the same time last year – which had the releases of Apocalypto, Happy Feet, The Holiday and Casino Royale to attract movie goers. The 2007 movie year is still up on last year’s take, but the fall’s turnout on the weekends has been nipping at the advantage gained during the summer popcorn flicks.Compass was followed by Enchanted – which claimed the No. 2 spot at the box office with $10.7 million. The Disney film has enjoyed a strong run at the box office and has crossed the $80 million spot. Several limited releases had success at the screen with Fox Searchlight’s Juno and Focus Features’ Atonement enjoying strong openings. Miramax’s No Country for Old Men bumped up to the No. 6 spot overall and expanded to more than 1,300 theaters.The upcoming weekends look to be big ones for the box office with the release of Warner Bros. I am Legend – which features box office king Will Smith; the family friendly 20th Century Fox film Alvin and the Chipmunks; and Disney’s sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Fans can also look forward to the return of Johnny Depp with the release of the DreamWorks-Warner Bros. film Sweeney Todd.

View blog reactions

If you liked this story please support M&C and Buzz the site on Yahoo.

Latest Headlines in Movies

Talkback

Add your comment (no registration required)

page: 1

movie viewerDec 10th, 2007 - 19:32:25

Do Movie Critics ever go outdoors ?
We had major snow & ice storms over half the country this opening weekend ... 400,000 people lost power! Despite poor weather, I went & saw movie. It is very good ... the kind we all like go to the theater for.

Another reason for reduced attendance to ALL movies this season is lack of promotion on late night talk shows due to writers strike... ( all reruns ) This has historically been a very important marketing venue for new movies.

Report this comment

page: 1

Add your comment (no registration required)

Latest from M&C Blogs

Is Sarah Palin a saviour or a strange choice? - Global Eye on September 2, 2008 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (22) | TrackBacks (0)

Obama: the gloves come off in Denver - Global Eye on August 29, 2008 6:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Biden: good choice or admission of Obama's weakness? - Global Eye on August 25, 2008 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

Upside-down House - The World in Pictures on August 4, 2008 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

Church of our Lady in Dresden, Germany - The World in Pictures on August 4, 2008 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Giant Orange - The World in Pictures on July 15, 2008 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Movies

Compass not quite golden at the box office

Movies News

Latest Headlines in Movies

Talkback

Latest from M&C Blogs

The Golden Compass

Related Articles

Similar articles

External Links

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print