10,000 BC Tops North American Box Office
March 10th, 2008 by Franck Tabouring
Roland Emmerich’s prehistoric epic 10,000 B.C. — despite being massacred by US critics — squashed its competition at the North American box office this weekend with US$35.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Released by Warner Bros., the film follows the adventures of a mammoth hunter who embarks on a perilous journey to free his tribe and rescue his loved one. 10,000 B.C. also opened in 20 international markets, pulling in an additional $25.3 million.
Walt Disney’s College Road Trip debuted in second place with an opening weekend gross of $14 million. The Roger Kumble-directed comedy stars Martin Lawrence as an overprotective father who volunteers to help his daughter (Raven-Saymone) pick the right college.
Dropping to No. 3, Pete Travis‘ terrorism thriller Vantage Point picked up $7.5 million from ticket sales at 3,163 locations. The Sony actioner, which focuses on eight individuals entangled in an assassination attempt on the U.S. president, has lifted its domestic gross to $51.6 million after three weeks in release.
Last week’s box-office champion, Semi-Pro, ranked in fourth this weekend, earning $5.9 million. Starring Will Ferrell as the owner of a basketball team, New Line Cinema’s sports comedy reached a total gross of $24.8 million, which is an unusually weak result for a Ferrell flick.
Opening in fifth place was Lionsgate’s crime thriller The Bank Job, which collected $5.7 million. Jason Statham stars as the leader of a gang of amateur robbers who break into the Lloyds Bank in London.
At No. 6, The Spiderwick Chronicles took home $4.8 million, bringing its total haul to $61.7 million after a solid four-week run. Directed by Mark Waters, the Paramount adventure tale follows three siblings who must protect a magical book from the claws of a ruthless ogre.
Meanwhile, Justin Chadwick’s period drama The Other Boleyn Girl tumbled to No. 7 with $4 million, lifting its cumulative gross to $14.6 million. Released by Focus Features, the film stars Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson as two sisters competing for the affection of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana).
Doug Liman’s action blockbuster Jumper slipped to No. 8 with $3.7 million, while Step Up 2 the Streets finished in ninth place with a weekend gross of $3 million.
Warner’s adventure comedy Fool’s Gold rounded out the top ten with $2.8 million. The Andrew Tennant-directed film starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey reached a domestic total of $62.8 million after five weeks in release.
The only other new release this weekend was Focus Features’ Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, starring Amy Adams and Frances McDormand, which debuted in eleventh place with $2.5 million in ticket sales from 535 locations.
Source: Box Office Mojo (boxofficemojo.com)
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2 Responses to “10,000 BC Tops North American Box Office”
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Is 10000 bc the worst movie ever made? Someone should have a vote on that
Director and co-writer, Roland Emmerich is no stranger to brainless spectacles. This is the guy who brought us Independence Day and 1998’s Hollywood take on Godzilla, after all. There’s a very fine line between brainless and just plain brain dead, unfortunately. 10,000 B.C. is short on spectacle, short on plot, and short on just about anything that people go to the movies for. There are characters and a love story to drive the bare bones plot, but this seems to be added in as an afterthought. I got the impression that Emmerich and fellow screenwriter, Harald Kloser (a film score composer making his first screenplay credit), had the idea for a couple cool scenes, then tried to add a bunch of filler material between them. They threw in some sketchy characters that hardly reach two dimensions to inhabit this filler, and called it a screenplay. In order for spectacle to work, even the cheese-filled variety such as this, there has to be something for the audience to get excited about. This movie is just one big tease.