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'Swimfan' Makes A Box Office Splash
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Thanks to Lee for sending this in! From: MSN NZ In a surprising start to the fall movie-going season, the low-budget teen thriller "Swimfan" opened at No. 1, preventing the hit romantic comedy "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" from claiming the top spot in its 21st weekend of release. According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Swimfan" - pitched as a "Fatal Attraction" for teen-agers - grossed about $12.4 million for the three days beginning Sept. 6. It was followed by "Wedding" at $10.6 million, and the new Robert De Niro cop drama "City By The Sea" with $9.1 million. But most people did not bank on "Swimfan," which did not even screen in advance for critics, a measure usually taken when a studio wants to limit possible bad word-of-mouth. GREAT LITTLE SURPRISE Going into the weekend, Fox would have been happy with an $8 million opening, said Rick Myerson, the studio's executive VP of distribution. "It's one of those great little surprises," Myerson said of the eventual figure. It is notoriously hard to predict how well teen films will do at the box office.
As is usually the case with thrillers, females made up the majority of the young audience, about 60 percent, Myerson said. The young demographic has not been targeted with a movie since "XXX" opened on Aug. 9 followed by "Blue Crus" a week later, he noted. One person who was not surprised by how well "Swimfan" did was Paul Brooks, president of Gold Circle Films, one of the backers of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Brooks said his film enjoyed an astonishing weekend - its per-screen average of $6,249 was easily the highest in the top 10 - and has yet to suffer any attrition. He hoped the movie would eventually surpass the $140 million total of the most successful independent movie in history, "The Blair Witch Project." |