When we said the weekend box office numbers for ‘Speed Racer’ might have been a little too high, we didn’t expect even lower numbers to be released. But the Warner Bros. employees responsible for the hippie colored movie must be crying in the corner at this point. The ‘official’ weekend counter came no further than $18.6 million. A difference of $1.6 million with earlier estimates.

It makes for a total of just $31.1 million worldwide. With another family title next weekend (’Prince Caspian’), will it even be possible to gross over $100 million worldwide? Or is ‘Speed Racer’ getting ready to take a spot in the book of biggest box office failures ever, considering the total costs (budget, marketing, promotional deals) may even exceed $350 million.

‘Iron Man’ has such a dominating personality. He stayed on top in the US and he’s not letting go overseas either. The box office hit made another $39 million this weekend in 61 territories. ‘What Happens In Vegas’ made the second place with $23 million in 36 markets and ‘Speed Racer’ had an amazingly slow weekend with only $12.8 million in 30 territories. It only took the first place in South Korea with $2.4 million.

Continue reading ‘Speed Racer’ burns at overseas box office

‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ tracking numbers are showing potential. The family fantasy will open this Thursday and is expected to top the $65.5 million opening by its predecessor ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ in 2005.

The $100 million ‘Prince Caspian’ is particularly tracking well with women above 25, with 25% compared to 20% for ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ last year. ‘Un-Aided Awareness’ is 11%, compared to 16% for Potter. ‘Definite Interest’ 42% compared to 48% and ‘Overall First Choice’ 14% for the Disney movie compared to 17% for Harry Potter last year.

With not much else on the horizon this weekend, I think ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ is going to have a very good start, with ‘Iron Man’ still following.