December 9th, 2003

December Cruise

Despite bad weather in the Northeast, mixed reviews and a long running time, Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai pulled in a very respectable opening with 24.3 million. If word of mouth is good, expect the movie to do pretty well. Coming in second was the bashed Honey starring former "Dark Angel" stunner Jessica Alba. Despite the negative press, the film had a pretty good 12.9 opening. Since the film only cost 18 million dollars, it should be a nice little success for Universal.

Taking a major drop was Eddie Murphy's The Haunted Mansion with only 9.4 million over the weekend - looks like this won't be a "Pirates Of The Carribean" hit after all. In fourth place was Elf with 8 million, and going from first to fifth was The Cat In The Hat which also took a slide and made 7.1 million this weekend. It's safe to say this movie won't make nearly as much as "The Grinch" and may struggle to make half that amount. Nonetheless, a sequel is always underway so expect to see Mike Myers and company back in theaters come November 2005.

In sixth place was Bad Santa with 7 million (which is holding pretty well) and in seventh place was Gothika with 5.3 million. The Missing took in 4 million, while Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World and Love Actually each brought in 3.7 and 3.6 million, respectively.

Now that December is here, expect some pretty nasty competition as the big holiday and awards films begin to open. Can some November films hold up in the coming weeks? Stay tuned DVD fans!

-Zach B.