It appears that the CGI animated musical Happy Feet tap danced past the new James Bond film, earning an estimated total of $42.3 million to 007's $40.6 million. While this will mark only the second time in history that two films have opened with more than $40 million and this past weekend's total for the top 10 films was the highest in four months, it still represents a considerable 18% drop from the pre-Thanksgiving weekend last year when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire scored a spectacular $102.7 million debut -- in fact the box office total last weekend was lowest grossing pre-Turkey day frame in eight years.
A glut of computer-animated releases in 2006 has taken some of the luster off the once golden category. While Warners' Happy Feet is that studio's highest grossing animated release ever, it fell well short of the levels attained by Pixar (Cars opened this year with $60 million) or Fox's Ice Age films. Still Happy Feet, which attracted an audience that was predictably composed of over 40% kids along with an adult component that included more males than females, should continue to do well over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.
As for the new James Bond film, Casino Royale -- the early returns indicate that Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, may be off to a strong start. Casino Royale sold almost exactly the same number of tickets in its first weekend as Goldeneye, the first Pierce Brosnan Bond film -- and it killed overseas where it brought in over $42 million. While not forsaking the traditional Bondian humor, Casino Royale presents a new rough-around-the-edges 007, and its style is more in keeping with the general tenor of contemporary action films. Direct market retailers will recognize the demographic that attended the new Bond film -- 57% were over 25 and 55% were male. With Casino Royale getting some of the best reviews of any Bond film in years it should be interesting to see if the film can develop 'legs.'
Meanwhile Sascha Baron Cohen's Borat may finally be running out of steam. It slipped to #3, earning an estimated $14.35 million and running its cumulative to $90 million. It could end up with a domestic gross just south of $130 million -- not bad for a film that cost just $18 million to produce.
