Will RotK dethrone TPM?

Ok, with the news that Matrix: Revolutions grossed $24.3M domestically on Wednesday making it the 3rd biggest Wednesday opening ever. The top 6 are (From Box Office Mojo):

1 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $28,542,349 5/19/99
2 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $26,159,972 12/18/02
3 The Matrix Revolutions $24,311,365 11/05/03
4 Jurassic Park III $19,024,360 7/18/01
5 Men in Black II $18,599,621 7/03/02
6 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring $18,214,211 12/19/01

So, do you think Return of the King will be able to gross enough on 12/17 to beat Episode 1's $28.5M? Granted it has 4.5 years of inflation on TPM, but it also has another 50% of runtime too. Meaning it will play less often on Wednesday than TPM could.

I have to say not only will RotK be #1, it will easily break $30M.

Final prediction: $32.7M Wednesday opening

 

I gotta wonder are we going to include the 11 PM show in all the Trilogy Tuesday showings for grosses. If not then I say $29.7 million opening day, enough to beat TPM but not break 30 million unless you add in Tuesday's ticket sales.

 

Will it beat it boxoffice wise... couldn't say.

Will it beat it story wise and in everyother aspect... yep.

 

I hope to God so. I have a great love for Star Wars but from what I have seen of the last 2 LOTR this one should WUP UP!!!

 

OK, My Opinion ....

I don't think RoTK will do as well as Star Wars mostly due to audience. I don't think a lot of 5 to 10 year olds will be attending LOTR, where Star Wars is actually designed for all ages, and most all intellects. I also think that LOTR is targetted more towards the intellectual people, where Star Wars is a little more open. I know alot of people into Star Wars who don't get LOTR at all. (My parents are a GOOD example). Besides, people like us, wind up going to the opening show of Star Wars and turning around the same day to see it again with the kiddo. The three hour flic makes that a little grueling, especially with work and all.

I do think the story & experience will probably be superior with RoTK - I'll bet it ROCKS!

 

Well the figures are in..........


Return of the King Smashes Opening Day Record
Thu, Dec 18, 03 01:29:07 PM EST


CNN/Money talks about one Star Wars record that fell today - the legions of LOTR fans meant it didn't stand a chance:
The debut of Time Warner Inc.'s "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" set box office records for the best Wednesday and the best single-day December sales, putting it on course to break the records of its two predecessors.
The final Lord of the Rings film did a record $34.1 million in U.S. box office Wednesday. New Line Cinema, the Time Warner studio that has released the three legs of the trilogy each December since 2001, said the film had domestic box office sales of $34.1 million Wednesday, on about 3,650 screens.

About $8 million of that came from 2,100 screens that held midnight showings in the early hours of Wednesday, capturing fans who couldn't wait to see the final chapter of the series.

The record for best Wednesday box office sales was previously held by "Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace," which took in $28.5 million in its first day in theaters in May 1999.


So yes it dethroned it and quite easily. It helps when you can make $8 million on midnight shows alone.

 

Do you know if they're counting the Trilogy Tuesdays receipts into the midnight total? Box Office Mojo has no listing for any Tuesday revenue for RotK, so I'm thinking they did. Even though they started at 11PM, I suppose they still call it midnight.

This movie deserves to be at the top of every list and this is just the beginning. I hope we get to see a lot of Peter Jackson and Company on February 29th!