V for Vendetta topped the weekend box office with an estimated total of $26.1 million and a per theater average of $7,760. Although the graphic novel-based film turned in the fourth best opening of 2006, it did come in a few notches below expectations given the robust advertising and promotional campaign that Warner Brothers mounted for the film. Still, backed by a majority of positive reviews (75% favorable in the Rotten Tomatoes online survey), V for Vendetta will have a chance to demonstrate some staying power at the box office where it debuted with very similar numbers to last spring's major comic book-based releases Constantine ($29.8 million) and Sin City ($29.1 million). Both Constantine, which cost an estimated $100 million, and Sin City, which was made for $40 million, earned about $75 million at the domestic box office-and if V for Vendetta, which cost an estimated $50 million, holds up well, it should finish in the same vicinity.
V for Vendetta's audience was primarily male (60%) and evenly split between those over and under 25. The film's promotional campaign definitely appears to have made a major impact on book sales. For the week ending March 12 the V For Vendetta graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Lloyd was #4 on the BookScan list of graphic novels sold in bookstores. V for Vendetta was the only non-manga title in the Top 40 on the BookScan list, and if the list were calculated on the basis of retail dollars rather than units sold, it would have been #1.
Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe edged past Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire over the weekend earning a half a million dollars to bring its domestic cumulative total to $289.8 million (worldwide the Potter film still has a huge lead).
V's opening should be seen in the context of a continuing decline in the domestic box office weekend total for the top 10 films, which declined for the eighth straight week versus 2005 (a year that, for the most part, posted steady declines from 2004). Spring break and St. Patrick's Day partying may also have had a role in the slightly underwhelming debut for V, which was expected to do especially well among college students. As with most heavily promoted films, the second box office weekend should provide a much better indicator of how V for Vendetta will finish its box office run.
