Saturday Box Office: Halloween Drops 20%; Balls Of Fury Up 20%

By Steve Mason/Sept. 2, 2007 3:46 am EST

The 2007 version of John Carpenter's 1978 classic HALLOWEEN was definitely frontloaded. MGM/Weinstein's remake/re-imagining of the Michael Myers slash-fest took a dramatic 20% drop on Saturday for a day 2 gross of about $8.65M. Based on the drop, I'm revising HALLOWEEN to a 3-day of $27.28M and projecting a 4-day take of $32.83M. That's very good, but shy of the $35M+ I was calling for 24 hours ago.

SUPERBAD (Sony) was #2 on Saturday with an estimated $4.1M, followed by BALLS OF FURY (Rogue Releasing), which got a nice 20% Saturday bump to just over $4M. It looks like the goofy ping-pong comedy will edge THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM for the 3rd spot in the 3-day and 4-day race. Jason Bourne is losing steam as evidenced by the thriller's $3.69M Saturday. RUSH HOUR 3 (New Line) rounds out the top 5 for Saturday with approximately $3.3M.

EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS EARLY SATURDAY ESTIMATES

1. Halloween (MGM/Weinstein) – $8.65M [$19.6M cume]

2. SuperbadÂ (Sony) – $4.1M [$84.4M cume]

3. Balls of Fury (Rogue Releasing) – $4.04M [$10.3M cume]

4. The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) – $3.69M [$195.6M cume]

5. Rush Hour 3 (New Line) – $3.3M [$117.6M cume]

EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS REVISED 3-DAY ESTIMATES

1. Halloween (MGM/Weinstein) – $27.38M [$27.38M cume]

2. SuperbadÂ (Sony) – $12.5M [$89.3M cume]

3. Balls of Fury (Rogue Releasing) – $10.93M [$13.8M cume]

4. The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) – $9.69M [$199.1M cume]

5. Rush Hour 3 (New Line) – $8.54M [$120.7M cume]

EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS REVISED 4-DAY ESTIMATES

1. Halloween (MGM/Weinstein) – $32.83M [$32.83M cume]

2. SuperbadÂ (Sony) – $15.5M [$91M cume]

3. Balls of Fury (Rogue Releasing) – $13.28M [$16.2M cume]

4. The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) – $12.09M [$201.5M cume]

5. Rush Hour 3 (New Line) – $10.74M [$122.9M cume]

For Saturday, 3-Day and 4-Day Estimates for the Top 12 films plus new specialty releases LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON (Lionsgate), SELF-MEDICATED (Thinkfilm) and THE NINES (NewMarket Films), please visit Fantasy Moguls.