Box Office Shakedown

The US of A -- OLDBOY has been doing about $14,000/screen on a handful of screens and is now just over the $100,000 mark. It's set to expand this week. It has now out-grossed SHIRI, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS and INFERNAL AFFAIRS in the US.

STEAMBOY has made about $3,400/screen for a US gross of $326,361 in three weeks. Considering the P&A costs of the film this is pretty weak beer.

And let's hear it for the two big non-success stories of the year. First up is HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS which earned $11 million in the US. Now, I don't have $11 million, but this is a bit disappointing when one considers that HERO raked in upwards of $50 million. However, all is right with the world because the movie was perceived as a success and that's pretty important for DVD sales.

And then there's poor ol' ONG BAK. This movie made about $4.4 million in the US this year, and it was released on a couple of hundred screens. Again, I don't have $4.4 million in my other pants, but this is a real disappointment, especially when one considers the huge chunks of change Magnolia Pictures spent on advertising and prints. This is their second Thai failure (their first was BANG RAJAN which made $24,000 in the US) and one would think it might be the last time they touch a Thai flick.

KOREAN -- thanks to TwitchFilm.net for this week's Korean box office figures. Kim Ji-Won's violent flick, A BITTERSWEET LIFE, has beaten out the boxing flick CRYING FIST at the box office to take the number one slot.

HONG KONG -- Miyazaki's HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE is perched on top with about HK$1 million over the weekend (its total to date is about HK$16 million) and Stephen Fung's action flick, HOUSE OF FURY, is in second place with HK$590,000 (its total is about HK$9 million). EYE 10 picked up HK$290,000 bringing its total to around HK$6 million. On a side note, HOUSE OF FURY will be the second HK film to break the HK$10 million mark this year, which is pretty sad considering that the New Year's blockbusters have already come and gone. (thanks to www.hkentreview.com for the numbers)

The Box Office Shakedown will appear every Monday, and will be beefed up quite a bit next week, covering more countries and more films.