Will ULTIMATUM mean a Bourne Again Box Office? |
|
For those of you who were disappointed that I didn't point out in the last column that PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END, with $950 million worldwide in the coffers, is clearly the summer's biggest hit, consider it pointed out. Now, let's move forward.
By the time you read this column, summer, for our intent and purpose, will have ended. Sure the studios still have a few odds and ends, mostly odds, to send out before Labor Day. But all of the box office big guns have long since been fired. The movies that make or break a box office season have come – and some of them have, mercifully, gone.
All things considered, the box office summer has been outstanding. From summer's start, SPIDERMAN 3 on May 5, records, both domestic and international, were set. When all is said, done, and seen, the Summer of 2007, may enter the record books as the highest-grossing summer in motion picture history. Today, the record-holding best box office summer ever is 2004, when Match Flickers spent more than $3.8 billion on hot weather fare.
Among the blockbusters propelling the Summer of 2004 into the box office stratosphere were SHREK 2, SPIDERMAN 2, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, and THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, among others. All four of the above franchises are represented at the box office this summer via sequels. That's 
Will Match-Flickers RUSH to the box office in droves? |
|
why we're headed toward the Mother of All Box Office Summers.
The final tally of late summer entries including THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, RUSH HOUR 3, and THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, will ultimately determine whether the Summer of 2007 enters the box office Hall of Fame as the most successful ever, or if the year lands in the "Close, but no cigar" column.
Thus far, five flicks are largely responsible for this summer's record-busting success: SPIDERMAN 3, SHREK THE THIRD, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END, TRANSFORMERS, and HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. Sadly, TRANSFORMERS is the only original motion picture among summertime's Fab Five.
While the aforementioned flicks were enthralling movie-goers worldwide, other offerings, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, HOSTEL II, AND NANCY DREW, were box office disappointments.
What remains to be seen is whether or not summer's last blast of heat BOURNE, RUSH HOUR, and HOMER SIMPSON will push this season's box office bonanza beyond 2004's record-setting $3.8 billion mark. Given THE SIMPSONS spectacular opening weekend ($74) million, it seems more likely than ever that Summer 2007 will topple the record set in 2004.
What I know for sure is that, in addition to the myriad Back to School ads that I'm seeing on television, reading in newspapers, 
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE hits a box office Homer |
|
and hearing on the radio, some of the stores at my local mall are already displaying Halloween.
By my July 21st visit to the neighborhood 'plex, it was obvious that box office summer is history. The Previews of Coming Attractions completely bypassed the final week of July, failing to even note movies that I could enjoy in August. Each of the five flicks touted before my Feature Presentation began reflected a September, October, or November release date. Match-Flickers, ready or not, your favorite movie venue already has its sites set on Thanksgiving Weekend.
As for what to see in these lazy, crazy "Dog Days" of summer: You can see bigger stars or better CGI, more important subject matter, and more refined performances, but you can't have more fun at the movies this summer than HAIRSPRAY. For the first time since the Best Picture-winning CHICAGO (2002), Hollywood has gotten it exactly right in translating a hit Broadway stage musical into a sparkling, dance-in-your-seat bon-bon of a movie. HAIRSPRAY is GREASE for the AMERICAN IDOL generation! It's a big, bouffant, splashy high school musical with a beat and a heart. Unless you lack a pulse, you'll have the Match-Flicking time of your life.
So, go to your nearest multiplex, Aqua Net in hand, and have the most fun that you can have at the movies this summer: HAIRSPRAY.
 email this column to a friend
|
| The Business of Show |
Every other Friday
Does advertising, public taste, or overindulged stars determine a movie's box office fate? Christoper Stone explores what's going on behind the box office.
|
| Christopher Stone |
Christopher Stone is the author of the international best seller Re-Creating Your Self. With Mary Sheldon, he co-authored three highly successful hardcover books of guided meditations.
He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
|
| Contact |
If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, you can send a message to Christopher Stone by clicking here.
|
|
