Talladega Nights Still Cruising At The Box Office
Posted August 13, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Even on its second lap, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was much too much for box office competition.
For the second straight weekend, the Will Ferrell NASCAR spoof was the number one film, taking in $23 million.
Surprising almost everyone in Hollywood, teen dance drama Step Up also had a strong weekend, blowing past all other new releases and into second place with a $21 million debut.
“It stepped up out of nowhere and surprised everyone,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. “It was totally unexpected.”
Right on its heels, and on the heels of news that British authorities had foiled an alleged terror plot, Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center did surprisingly well, taking in $19 million.
Apparently, controversies surrounding previous Stone films like JFK and Nixon didn’t pose too many questions for viewers about how he might portray the events of the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“We really don’t know the answer” to whether current events affected attendance, said Jim Tharp, president of distribution at Paramount. “Word of mouth got out very quickly and impacted the weekend in a positive manner.”
In its third week, the independent film Little Miss Sunshine continued its impressive run.
Overall, the top 12 films enjoyed a boost of 6.35 per cent from the same weekend in 2005, making it the fourth consecutive weekend that things have been on the up swing. Experts are crediting a diverse selection for the recent success.
“There is so much variety. You pick a genre and you can find a movie,” Dergarabedian said.
Here’s the rest of the weekend’s top 10, with all figures estimated according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
1. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, $23 million.
2. Step Up, $21 million.
3. World Trade Center, $19 million.
4. Barnyard, 10.1 million.
5. Pulse, $8.5 million.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, 7.2 million.
7. Zoom, 4.6 million.
8. The Descent, $4.6 million.
9. Miami Vice, $4.5 million.
10. Monster House, $3.3 million.
