Stellar reviews and a canny ad campaign were no match for a good old-fashioned fight movie this weekend as Forbidden Kingdom edged the Judd Apatow comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall at theaters.
The fantasy-martial arts film, which paired Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the first time, took in $20.9 million, according to studio estimates from box office trackers Nielsen EDI.
The debut was about $4 million more than expected and helped push the movie past Marshall, which also beat projections with $17.3 million and second place.
Kingdom's victory came despite Apatow's popular raunchy style of comedy and a savvy ad blitz that included billboard-sized hate notes to Sarah Marshall that drew thousands to Universal Pictures' website. The movie also received recommendations from about 85% of the nation's critics, according to RottenTomatoes.com.
Kingdom responded with a vastly different campaign, which included Internet ads touting Kingdom's seven-minute fight sequence between Chan and Li. Also, the Weinstein Co. peppered the Nickelodeon and Cartoon networks with commercials to draw teen boys to the PG-13 film, a cross between Karate Kid and Princess Bride that also had strong reviews, with a thumbs-up from about two-thirds of critics.
"We thought we had something unique that would play to both the kids and martial arts fans," says Harvey Weinstein. "Jackie has a more mainstream following, but Jet Li has a more rabid fan base with his martial arts. People really wanted to see them square off."
The critically panned Al Pacino crime thriller 88 Minutes fell short of projections by about $1 million and took fourth place with $6.8 million.
The horror film Prom Night was third with $9.1 million, while the Jodie Foster family fantasy Nim's Island was fifth with $5.7 million.
The only other notable film opening, the low-budget documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, took the ninth spot with $3.2 million, meeting its modest projections.
Kingdom and Marshall's strong performances helped snap the slump in ticket sales, which had been down eight out of the past nine weeks compared to the same weekend last year. Ticket sales were up 12% from last year, though overall attendance remains 7% below 2007's pace, according to Media By Numbers.
"Box office is boring right now"
2 Comments -
"Kingdom and Marshall's strong performances helped snap the slump in ticket sales."
Well, that's nice. Especially because it's pretty much exactly what I said would happen in my comment on Saturday. I love being right.
April 21, 2008 1:50 PM
Kingdom looks great, but Chan ruins everything he's in.
April 21, 2008 8:02 PM