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Leading CIS box office in the first weekend of autumn (Seðtember 4-7) was the Nicholas Cage actioner Bangkok Dangerous (Ðaradise). The film, directed by the brothers Danny and Oxide Pang is a remake of their own original 1999 Thai-language film. The new version grossed $2,047,782 from 428 screens $2 047 782 and easily topped the box office chart. Its per-screen average of $4,785 was the best among the films of the week.
Last week’s winner, Babylon A. D. (West), Mathieu Kassovitz’s futuristic actioner starring Vin Diesel, descended to second place, grossing $1,076,529 in its second weekend (63% less than its first), for an 11-day total of $5,062,766. Mirrors (20th Century Fox CIS), the horror film with Kiefer Sutherland, and Novaya Zemlya (Nashe Kino) with Konstantin Lavronenko, the other futuristic actioner in the chart, also relinquished their positions. Mirrors fell from second place to ninth, grossing $241,769 (down 75%) from 131 screens, for an 18-day total of $3 501 842. Novaya Zemlya went from third place to fifth, having put $481,883 in its second weekend (down 48%) from 373 screens. Its total gross in 11-days was $1,849,391.
The animated film Space Chimps (Pyramida) rose to third place from fourth, having grossed $597,629 from 300 screens in its second weekend. Its drop in box office gross was only 21%.
Mikhail Porechenkov and Yekaterina Pobedinskaya’s D Day (Central Partnership), a remake of Mark L. Lester’s 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Commando with Porechnikov in the lead role, debuted in fourth place. Its 353 screens brought it $512,235. Another Russian film, Vadim Shmelyov’s $1.7 million horror film SSD (Cascade) starring Anfisa Chekhova, started in sixth place, having grossed $403,514 from 201 screens.
Immediately following, in seventh and eighth places respectively, were two more new films, both of them American. Adam Mckay’s comedy Step Brothers (BVSPR) with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (152 screens, $335 786) and the satirical comedy War, Inc. starring John Cusack and Hilary Duff (Top Film; 150 screens, $275 010).
Peter Cattaneo’s The Rocker, starring Rainn Wilson and Christina Applegate (20th Century Fox CIS) started its box office history in 11th place (160 screens, $130 474), and Fatih Akin’s German-Turkish-Italian drama The Edge of Heaven (Cinema Without Frontiers) featuring Hanna Schygulla in a supporting role started out in 23rd (five screens, $9,974).
The CIS premieres of War Inc. and The Rocker doubled as their European premieres.
Four films in the week in review broke the $1 million barrier – Bangkok Dangerous, Space Chimps, Novaya Zemlya and Impy’s Wonderland (Top Film), and the number of “millionaire” films reached 104. It is worth noting that in 2007, the total number of such films for the year was 109.
The fantastic adventure blockbuster The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (UPI), having grossed $27,704,071 in 39 days, overtook the total box office figure for The Very Best Film (Caroprokat) and placed second in the highest grossing hits in CIS distribution in 2008, with only Timur Bekmambetov’s Irony of Fate: The Sequel (20th Century Fox CIS) surpassing it with a total gross of $49.9 million. |
