The Spirit earned a mere $6.5 million during the three day holiday weekend, good for just ninth place on the top ten. Ouch! The film earned an average of $2595 per screen compared with the number one film’s $10,632. Strike ONE for Frank Miller!!!
Marley and Me broke Christmas records despite bad reviews taking in $37 million. It seems a cute and cuddly dog sells way better than a screaming Samuel L. Jackson holding double quadruple barreled revolvers. Comicmix reported this is probably due to the economic drought. People want to feel all warm and fuzzy, and not see a shadowy figure running around on telephone wires. Sorry Frank...
Lionsgate also flopped earlier in the month with Punisher: War Zone, which is not even in theatres any more. Double Ouch! The Spirit received horrible reviews on almost every front, and it seemed the only thing to save it were box office results. It seems people listen to the critics nowadays because the turn out was not so good.
Bedtime Stories took second in box office, while Benjamin Button took third, and Valkyrie took fourth. Maybe The Spirit should've had Tom Cruise in an eye patch.
I saw this one coming, but it still kind of hurts. I am a Frank Miller fan, and I would of loved to see his "Directorial Debut" do amazingly well. Maybe he should Alan Smithe this one, and just start over... -saintc