TPM Moves Down to #2 for Highest Opening Wednesday Gross

Gentlemen's bet then. ROTK breaks $300 million domestically in it's initial run. You say nay and I say aye.

 

AYE. It's at 150 million right now and it's only been 7 days.

 

My point exactly.

 

Actually, rethinking it over, ROTK will make over $300 million by Jan 15th. Could even be earlier than that.

What I'm going by is the strength of its stunning Tuesday performance -- $12 million on just a typical day. That is actually more than some movies make in a weekend. To make that on a following Tuesday shows extremely powerful legs, even better than that of FOTR and TTT. This holiday weekend (week #2) will add another $50-$70, and next week (week #3) will add $40, and week #4 should add $20. (I'm intentionally using worst-case scenarios here and ROTK is still on track to pass up $300 milllion)

I think the question should be when it will pass $350 million...or maybe even $400 million if this thing proves to be a phenomenon.

 

If ROTK does extremely well this weekend, then we should be contemplating whether it will pass 400 million domestically and 1 billion worldwide.

BTW, as of right now:

Worldwide

TPM - $925.6
TTT - $924.8

 

And we must keep in mind that TMP came out six years ago, when ticke prices were cheaper and opened on less screens.

One thing to keep in mind is that ROTK, people may already be getting sick of hobbits and middle earth. They will go see it once...but they may not go see it a second time or third time. The "newness" of the LOTR has probabbly wore off some.

 

ROTK has made $173 million in 9 days.

 

#1: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

$51,220,000 it's second weekend.

Total of $223,690,000 domestically.

Get ready to lose that bet, Obi-Wan2001.


One thing to keep in mind is that ROTK, people may already be getting sick of hobbits and middle earth. They will go see it once...but they may not go see it a second time or third time. The "newness" of the LOTR has probabbly wore off some.

ROTK is making money at a faster pace than TTT did which made money at a faster pace than FOTR did. Does not sound like people are getting sick of Middle Earth.

 

Strilo is right. No way are people getting sick of hobbits. It's very rare for sequels to ougross their predecssors, especially in the billion dollar range! ROTK will likely beat TPM. TTT came close.

BTW, it's obvious that TPM would have a higher theater average. It had less theaters!

 

"LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Hobbits held sway at movie theaters around the world over the Christmas holiday weekend as the final installment in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy powered towards $500 million after less than two weeks.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" has grossed $492.1 million from North America and 38 countries elsewhere.

The epic fantasy is outpacing both its predecessors and should reach $1 billion, said Rolf Mittweg, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at New Line Cinema. New Line is a unit of Time Warner Inc., as is CNN.com.

The new film's foreign haul of $268.4 million includes $48 million from Britain, $45 million from Germany and $30 million from France. The film opened on Friday in Australia, and has already pulled in $8.7 million.

"With the release of each film, the emotional resonance and dramatic impact have only increased," Mittweg said.

Despite its success, the film has a long way to go before unseating all-time champ "Titanic," which grossed about $1.8 billion worldwide. The first film in the "Rings" series, "The Fellowship of the Ring" earned $865 million worldwide.

In North America, "The Return of the King" combined with four new releases, led by the Steve Martin comedy "Cheaper by the Dozen," to drive ticket sales to a record high for the Christmas weekend."

www.CNN.com

 

I saw Return of The King THREE times in one week. Personally, I think it's well deserved that they'd beat TPM. Besides, movies have a tendency of beating records. I wonder what movie beat the opening day of Return Of the Jedi.

 

It's the first day of the new year today, and ROTK has $250 million dollars amassed in two just weeks. If ROTK is to be in theaters for at least four to five months (definitely more at this rate), I think ROTK might end up around $400-450 million, and perhaps more. It will cross $1 billion worldwide for sure.

What works in ROTK's favor is that the spring season is very quiet when it comes to movie releases. ROTK does not have much competition from here until summer time.

 

ROTK had to get passed 4 new releases on Christmas Day.

It will definately beat 1 billion, and it may beat $400 million. Too early to tell still.

 

"It's the first day of the new year today, and ROTK has $250 million dollars amassed in two just weeks. If ROTK is to be in theaters for at least four to five months (definitely more at this rate), I think ROTK might end up around $400-450 million, and perhaps more. It will cross $1 billion worldwide for sure.

What works in ROTK's favor is that the spring season is very quiet when it comes to movie releases. ROTK does not have much competition from here until summer time."

Crapola! By geez whizzers JohnWilliams00 is correct! and most of the BIG movies that could steal the flare are OPening MUCH later than usual. The past couple years the big movies have been in May, but this coming year Harry Potter 3 doesn't come till June, and Spider-Man 2 is coming 2 months later than its predecessor's debut month! July 2 for Spidey. GO ROTK. To be honest, I don't know if it'll even come close to hitting Titanic, but I do believe it has a STRONG chance to beat TPM. I tell you if it even beats TPM, then its because of my boy Faramir!! Unlike his brother, he could go the distance. And if this movie can beat Titanic, lets just figure Sam was the reason.

 

ROTK will cross $300 million on Wed! It should be around $700 million Worldwide by that day as well.

 

ROTK will reach $330 million domestically and $800 million worldwide by NEXT SUNDAY.

Where's Obi-wan2001? I want to make fun of him.

 

Where's Obi-wan2001? I want to make fun of him.

I don't know if it will beat TPM's $430 million domestic gross (I've been getting obsessed with that number) but by Wednesday it will have grossed more than AOTC's total US gross ($302 million) in just three weeks. [face_shocked]

It appears the 3h 20m running time is not scaring people away.

 

Yes, it looks like you're going to win that bet, strilo. I hand it to you, you guys are right. I still say, now that these holiday weekends are over, the drop-offs will be huge. And it absolutely won't beat TPM's $430 million domestic gross.

See, let me tell you where I'm coming from on this. I'm a big fan of FOTR. I thought Peter Jackson and the cast did a great job. When I first saw TTT, I was pretty disappointed with the character development of our returning heroes from FOTR. I thought Jackson did a good job with the new characters developments, like Theoden, Eowyn, and Faramir. The TTT EE DVD makes it a better film. So, I was really looking forward to seeing these characters be fleshed out even more in ROTK.

That didn't happen. Everybody but Sam seemed totally underdeveloped. It's a film called Return of the King and Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn is the least developed he's been in the 3 films. That was really disappointing. Same with Legolas and Gimli. The two of them had about ten minutes of screentime. That's another big disappointment. They don't get to do much at all. Then, on top of that, not much is done with Theoden, Eowyn, and Faramir. The things that happened with Faramir just got ridiculous. Some great moments in the action sequences, and a lot of incoherent, shaky-cam close-up action. And the pacing was really, surprisingly, slow through much of the film.

Anyway, I'd like to know what made ROTK win you over so? And how you rank the trilogy?

 

Actually it will take a big drop on Monday because the holidays will be over, but its legs should be strong enough to cross $400 million and put TPM's gross in danger.


I was disappointed that Aragorn, Gimili and Legolas didn't have much screentime, but I don't sweat over it because they will have somewhere around double the time in ROTK EE. Viggo Mortensen said that half his scenes were cut in the theaterical release, so there is a lot to look forward to in the DVD version.

I thought the pacing was the fastest of all the films. It kept on cutting from scene to scene and didn't given any breathing room up until the end. The Extended Edition will probably decrease the pacing and make it more inline with FOTR and TTT. There are 5 hours look forward to!


Right now I rank them.

1) FOTR EE
2) ROTK
3) TTT EE

 

ROTK will blow TPM's world-wide gross (the numbers that matter) out of the water. ROTK is a virtual lock to become the #2 all-time money maker behind only the juggernaut of Titanic.

 

ROTK was laughable. Most things turned into clichés. I thought the pacing was rightout terrible. Especially whenever they cut to the hobbit journey. Really made the audience go yawn.


Sadly, the ROTK will probably beat TPM.
Isn´t TPM on third place and Harry Potter in second anyway?

 

Interesting to note that when I saw ROTK on 12/21/03, there were maybe 10 people in the theater. However, it was an 11:30 am show on a Sunday, the final weekend before Christmas, so I can't say I'm too surprised.

In any case, this is just to illustrate that the experiences incurred in a single screening are not necessarily indicative of what the rest of the country is experiencing. Indeed, ROTK's drop off this last weekend was only 39%, reaching a cume of $292 million domestically.

I don't think the drop offs will suddenly change dramatically for quite awhile. The emotional impact, combined with the sheer scope of the film (at least, these were the positive effects the film had on me) will help to keep people interested for quite some time. It's a similar phenomenon to Titanic, although I don't expect it to come close to that film's gross. In the end, people are attracted to films that make them feel something, and to me, ROTK does this in spades.

As to the issue of home theater, I'm of two minds. I love my home theater, but for me there's no experience quite as enthralling as the big screen. Video can't compare to film in overall image quality and resolution, and you sure as hell can't blow it up as big. Lots of details get lost on the small screen. The big sound of home theater now adays, in my mind, helps to bridge that gap, however.

My $.02 (couldn't help but use the $ sign)

 

"Viggo Mortensen said that half his scenes were cut in the theatrical release, so there is a lot to look forward to in the DVD version."

That's good to hear. Did he say how he felt about so many of his character's scenes being cut for the theatrical version?

"I thought the pacing was the fastest of all the films. It kept on cutting from scene to scene and didn't given any breathing room up until the end."

"I thought the pacing was rightout terrible. Especially whenever they cut to the hobbit journey. Really made the audience go yawn."

I agree with Billy_Dee_Binks.

"The emotional impact, combined with the sheer scope of the film (at least, these were the positive effects the film had on me) will help to keep people interested for quite some time."

"In the end, people are attracted to films that make them feel something, and to me, ROTK does this in spades."

That's the thing, I was much more emotionally moved by FOTR. Even TTT had more moments than ROTK. ROTK should've easily had the most emotional impact. But the characters were much too underdeveloped for scenes that should have been surefire moving scenes to have the right impact.

DarthMaul13, glad to see you have FOTR at the top. My ranking is:

1) FOTR EE
2) TTT EE
3) ROTK

 

Unless the EE improves it, FOTR will still say number one in my book. The movie is nearly perfect, while ROTK's flaws are a little more apparent. But I still love the more regardless.

The current top 10 WORLWIDE is:

1 Titanic...................................$1,835.4
2 Harry Potter 1.......................$975.8
3 The Phantom Menace...........$925.6
4 The Two Towers...................$924.8
5 Jurassic Park..........................$920.1
6 Harry Potter 2........................$869.4
7 The Fellowship of the Ring...$867.7
8 Spider-Man............................$821.7
9 Independence Day.................$813.2
10 Star Wars..............................$798.0


? The Return of the King......$677.0 (currently)

ROTK will probably make around 1.1 billion when it's all said and done. It will the be the only other movie besides Titanic to make it past 1 billion. It's a much better film than TPM or Harry Potter, so it deserves it.

 

That's still amazing that Star Wars (ANH) is still on that list, and that is before the adjustment for inflation. (IF it were adjusted it would be in the top 3) It's the only movie on there before the 1990s, with Jurassic Park being the next oldest movie.

I've always been surprised by the popularity of the Harry Potter films. Maybe I'm not seeing it, or maybe because I haven't read the books, but I really didn't know that HP1 was number 2, right underneath Titanic.