“Talladega” Breaks Speed Record
Posted: Monday August 7th 2006 12:00am
Source: Assorted Sources
Author: Garth Franklin

“Talladega Nights”, Will Ferrell’s NASCAR-themed comedy, grossed a superb $47 million this weekend. This makes it the best comedy bow of the year and the second biggest original comedy opening of all time behind “Bruce Almighty”.

The film, which received generally positive critical notices, also marks Ferrell’s biggest opening by far ahead of “Elf’s” $31.1 million. It also took in a solid $12,359 per screen in 3,803 playdates – the widest opening ever for a non-animated comedy.

Paramount’s poorly-received farmyard comedy “Barnyard” came in second with a decent $16 million and thanks to a relatively modest budget ($51 million), it will likely do well.

British horror film “The Descent” received rave reviews States-side, but only did a so-so $8.8 million in its opening. The film wasn’t helped by the fact it had opened close to a year ago in most international territories and many hardcore horror fans had already imported it or seen the film through friends.

The new Miramax’s first wide release “The Night Listener” tanked with a mere $3.6 million opening. Also not faring well was last week’s No. 1 “Miami Vice”, the Michael Mann flick plummeting 62% in its second frame to only $9.7 million. At a budget of $160 million, ‘Miami’ looks likely to join “Poseidon” as one of the Summer’s biggest flops.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” fell 47% and is now sitting at a very comfy $380 million. The film is looking likely to end somewhere in the low $400 million range.

Limited release wise “Little Miss Sunshine” continues shining with a $25,169 per screen average over 58 screens whilst on eight, “Quinceanera” averaged a solid $12,118 per take. Not doing so well are rock mockumentary “Brothers of the Head” ($1,036 per screen) and Ed Burns comedy “The Groomsmen” ($640 per screen).