Weekend Box Office - King Kong #1

Although King Kong was the number one movie this weekend with $50.2 million, the results were well below industry expectations of $80 million+. What happened?

The movie had some of the best reviews by critics (but do audiences really care what some middle-aged old men think?) and a giant marketing campaign.

I think the movie was too long (three hours is a bit much unless you're Lord of the Ring fan) and the commercials didn't really do it justice (they show Kong so many times, there really wasn't any expectation factor built in; remember "Godzilla" with Matthew Broderick? not many do because it sucked but at least they drew audiences in opening weekend by not showing the monster in any previews/ads). All of the above, plus no strong A-list talent and Peter Jackson's ego all got in the way.

Weekend Box Office 12/16 to 12/18*
1. King Kong (Universal) - $50.2 million
2. The Chronicles of Narnia (Buena Vista) - $31.2 million
3. The Family Stone (Fox) - $12.7 million (proof that Sarah Jessica Parker can't open a movie)
4. Harry Potter (Warner Brothers) - $5.9 million (exceeded $250 million in the U.S.)
5. Syriana (Warner Brothers) - $5.5 million
*early estimates

A special note about "Brokeback Mountain". The movie was 8th this weekend with a take of $3.3 million in only 69 theaters - another record I believe - and averaged a little over $34,000 per theater (last week it averaged over $100,000 per theater, a record for a non-cartoon).