Worst Weekend Box Office in Eight Years

By Sarah Sluis

With stale and meager offerings, America pretty much stopped going to the movies last weekend. They made the right decision. No film broke $10 million, making this the worst domestic box office in eight years. The one new release, Thai remake Bangkok Dangerous, barely beat the existing offerings, and came in at number one just ahead of Tropic Thunder. This star-studded comedy has shown surprising legs, and is approaching the $100 million mark�if only that wasn't also the production budget. No doubt word-of-mouth has helped extend its run. The Tom Cruise cameo as a studio exec apparently is worth checking out, and the trailer always got a smattering of chuckles from the audience when I saw it in theatres earlier this summer.

Bangkok Dangerous belongs to a subset of English-language remakes of South/East Asian action film.   With a B-list budget and effort, the underwhelming $7.8 million take only prompted a disappointed shrug from execs. I don't think the lackluster performance of this film speaks to a softening of the remake market, but rather that with the success of films like Oscar-winner The Departed (a remake of Infernal Affairs), and the spate of Japanese horror films, producers have gotten less picky in choosing what films to remake.

Overseas, Mamma Mia! came in number one at the box office, speaking to the transcontinental appeal of European group ABBA. While ABBA might have sold tickets, along with familiar music comes gorgeous visuals: a saturated-blue Mediterranean sea and perhaps the most cinematic use of fabric in recent memory, surely inspired by some Bollywood viewings. I heartily endorse this film's success, and am willing to ignore the awkwardness of the unchoreographed moments in the film. 

Next week finally brings some box-office draws: The Coen brother's Burn After Reading, and the remake of The Women. Look for more information Friday as I delve deep into next week's box-office outlook.