MGM's Bulletproof Monk, which is based on the Flypaper Press comic book, landed in fourth place in its opening weekend at the box office, earning an estimated $8.6 million. Anger Management topped the box office for the second week in a row with an estimated $25.6 million while Holes and Malibu's Most Wanted earned $17million and 13.1 million respectively during their first weekend of release. Bulletproof Monk actually opened in more theaters (2955) than did Holes (2331) and Malibu's Most Wanted (2503), but its per screen average of $2910 didn't come close to matching theirs ($7323 and $5249).
Several experts (including the Hollywood Reporter) speculated last week that Bulletproof Monk might earn as much as $15 over its opening weekend, but negative critical notices, which were running about 75% unfavorable last week according to the Rotten Tomatoes website, could well have had an effect on film's draw. However several influential papers including the New York Times gave Bulletproof Monk considerable credit for being an enjoyable action film that not only didn't take itself too seriously, but which also managed to avoid falling into the 'camp' trap, which is no mean feat. Perhaps, like the film that made its leading actor Chow Yun-Fat a star here in the U.S., Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Bulletproof Monk will succeed because of strong word of mouth and will build on what must be considered a somewhat disappointing opening weekend performance.
