Alvin and Chipmunks Takes 2nd
Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks pulled a surprising $44 million in its first weekend in theatres, despite generally unfavourable reviews.
Despite an ad campaign that had many film journalists reaching for their poison pens (it would have been shotguns, but writers are notoriously bad with mechanical objects), despite being stripped of its Animated Film status by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, and despite opening next to a Will Smith flick, Twentieth Century Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks somehow managed to pull $44.3 million in its first weekend in theatres.
That opening is even more stunning when one realizes that this flick managed to make over two-thirds of its production costs back in the first weekend. According to Box Office Mojo’s numbers, Alvin and the Chipmunks cost Fox $60 million to make. In another comparison, Alvin pulled more cash in its first weekend than the highly-promoted The Golden Compass managed in two (it’s only earned $40 million so far).
Alvin’s Box Office Success No Thanks to Film Critics
You know a movie’s in trouble with film writers when one of its more glowing reviews describes it as “not as eye-gougingly awful as you might expect” (Jeff Vice, Deseret Morning News) and another says it’s “less painful than expected” (Gene Seymour, Newsday) and a third claimed it was “merely bad, rather than apocalyptically bad” (Eric Snider, EricSnider.com). According to Rotten Tomatoes, Alvin and the Chipmunks pulled a 25% rating with only 17 out of 67 reviewers liking the flick.
It’s hard to say how this movie will fare in subsequent weeks. It could suffer a colossal drop-off once the novelty wears off, or it could be a critic-proof blockbuster a la Shrek the Third.
Other Animated Films in Theatres
Moving down the list, Enchanted slipped to 4th position, putting away another $5.5 million. The Kevin Lima-directed flick has now made $91.8 million in its first month in theatres. Disney hasn’t admitted how much Enchanted cost to make, but it’s likely somewhere in the $150 million mark. Certainly not blockbuster status, but nothing to be ashamed of either.
Paramount’s Beowulf tumbled out of the Top 10, falling from fifth to #12. It made $1.3 million in its 5th weekend, for a grand total of $79.2 million in its 5 weeks on the silver screen. Considering it cost $150 million to make, that’s not good.
DreamWorks Animation’s Bee Movie dropped to #16, adding another $760,196 to its pile. That means the Jerry Seinfeld vehicle has pulled an impressive $122.3 million in its seven weeks in theatres. That figure becomes considerably less impressive when one factors in the fact that the flick cost DreamWorks $150 million to make, even before the film’s advertising costs.
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