Borat Continues To Dominate The Box Office
Posted November 12, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character may thrive on making Americans look stupid, but it hasn’t hurt the nation’s appreciation of the fake Kazakh TV journalist.
For the second straight weekend, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” led the box office, taking in $29 million to remain atop Hollywood with a 10-day total of $67.8 million.
The same could be said for the other films that made up the top three, as Disney’s “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” held strong in second place with $16.9 million and the Paramount-DreamWorks animated tale “Flushed Away” came in third with $16.7 million.
Among newcomers, the Will Ferrell comedy “Stranger Than Fiction” had the best debut, placing fourth with $14.1 million. In his first real “straight” role, Ferrell plays a meek tax auditor suddenly able to hear the voice of a narrator (Emma Thompson) chronicling his life.
The rest of the debuts were pretty much flops, as the Russell Crowe-Ridley Scott reunion “A Good Year” managed just $3.8 million. A far cry from Gladiator, the romance stars Crowe as a London investment shark drawn to laid-back life at a French vineyard he inherits. And nobody cared.
But boy did people care about Borat, the Cohen character that originated on television’s “Da Ali G Show,” who jumps to the big screen in a mockumentary about his journey across America.
The film is wildly offensive and satiric, but with a built-in fan base from the show and a great buzz from the Internet, it was destined to be a huge hit.
“When a picture takes off like this, you can do it any way you want and you can’t screw it up, quite honestly, when a picture becomes a part of the culture like this,” said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century-Fox.
Expanding nationwide after two weekends in limited release, the Brad Pitt drama “Babel” was No. 6 with $5.65 million. The film traces the repercussions of a shooting in the African desert on families around the globe.
Few others in the top 10 were so lucky, as Sarah Michelle Gellar’s thriller “The Return” opened weakly in eighth with $4.8 million and gritty street drama “Harsh Times,” which stars Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez, debuted with just $1.8 million, finishing out of the top 10.
Here’s the rest of the weekend’s top 10, with all figures estimated according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
1. “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” $29 million.
2. “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” $16.9 million.
3. “Flushed Away,” $16.7 million.
4. “Stranger Than Fiction,” $14.1 million.
5. “Saw III,” $6.6 million.
6. “Babel,” $5.65 million.
7. “The Departed,” $5.2 million.
8. “The Return,” $4.8 million.
9. “The Prestige,” $4.6 million.
10. “A Good Year,” $3.8 million.
