THIS WEEKEND Tween girls sacked the competition over Super Bowl weekend as the music pic Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert shattered records and opened at number one at the North American box office. Debuting in second with solid results of its own was the Jessica Alba creepfest The Eye, but the comedies Over Her Dead Body and Strange Wilderness debuted outside of the top ten with more modest results. Overall, the marketplace stayed strong with the top ten beating year-ago levels by more than 30% for the third consecutive weekend.

Shooting higher than the loftiest of expectations, Disney's Hannah Montana film commanded an estimated $29M in ticket sales this weekend from only 683 theaters for an eye-popping $42,460 average setting a new record for the Super Bowl frame. Presented in digital 3D cinemas, with 96% of the sites featuring RealD technology, the grosses were boosted by most exhibitors charging $15 per ticket instead of the usual admission charges. Still, the G-rated film more than doubled its nearest competitor and sold out over a thousand showtimes during the weekend. The release was not as wide as other films since Disney was limited to only those auditoriums equipped with the necessary facilities to project in digital 3D.

Hannah Montana set a number of new box office milestones although asterisks will need to be added to the record books since it had the advantage of the higher-priced tickets. It was the largest opening ever over Super Bowl weekend beating the $21.6M of 2006's horror entry When a Stranger Calls, and the largest overall weekend gross over this frame surpassing Titanic which banked $25.2M in 1998 in its sixth weekend. The gross for the iceberg romance would be over $36M at today's regular prices. Hannah also set the record for the smallest amount of theaters for a film debuting at number one.

Best of Both Worlds offered fans many reasons to rush out and grab a seat. Given the star's 69-city sold-out concert tour, the film allowed Hannah lovers an easier way to see their favorite singer locally without having to get parents to buy scalped tickets. Add in the digital 3D presentation and the promotion of an exclusive one-week-only run and ticket buyers wasted no time in making sure they got their stubs and showed up. An event film was born. Due to the incredible demand, the studio has now announced that the film will be open-ended and will play beyond the initial seven-day run.

Sales were exceptional right out of the gate with Friday delivering a stunning $8.6M in business. Saturday saw incredible strength with matinee business from kids going on their parents' first day off from work with sales surging an amazing 52% to $13.1M. The studio has estimated that Sunday's grosses will drop by 45% to $7.3M. Most studios are estimating larger-than-normal declines of 60-65% on Sunday for their films because of the Super Bowl, however Hannah Montana's young female audience is least likely to care about the big game so its drop should be lighter.

Studio research indicated few surprises in the audience turnout. Females made up a whopping 84% of the crowd and those under the age of 25 accounted for 70%. Reviews were generally upbeat for the trim 74-minute concert film which allowed theaters to schedule plenty of showtimes over the weekend to absorb demand.
Hollywood's annual Super Bowl weekend horror offering had to settle for the runnerup prize. The Eye, a remake of a Hong Kong horror hit with Jessica Alba anchoring the U.S. version, bowed to an estimated $13M from 2,436 locations for a solid $5,357 average. The PG-13 pic about a blind violinist who gains supernatural visions of death after an eye transplant played slightly more to young women as the audience was 56% female, according to studio research. Lionsgate grossed $4.9M on Friday, edged up 16% to $5.7M on Saturday, and estimated a 58% drop on Sunday to $2.4M. The Eye debuted with more than twice as much as Alba's last thriller Awake ($5.9M) and was in line with the $13.7M launch of her recent romantic comedy Good Luck Chuck.

Fox's 27 Dresses held steady in third place and played as a great non-football alternative for women by grossing an estimated $8.4M in its third weekend. Katherine Heigl's hit comedy dipped by just 37%. Cume for Dresses now sits at $57.1M. Another funny gal from the Fox stable, Oscar nominee and Entertainment Weekly covergirl Ellen Page, rose three notches to fourth with Juno which collected an estimated $7.5M, off only 27%, for a robust $110.3M total.

The studio's spoof comedy Meet the Spartans tumbled by 62% in its second session and placed fifth with an estimated $7.1M. Budgeted at $18M, the PG-13 laugher has taken in $28.3M in ten days and should conclude with $40-45M putting it in the same neighborhood as the creative team's Epic Movie which grossed $39.7M at this same exact time last year. Close behind was Sylvester Stallone's action pic Rambo with an estimated $7M falling an identical 62% from its debut. Lionsgate has taken in $29.8M in ten days and may finish with close to $45M.

Taking in an estimated $6.9M was the Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman joint venture The Bucket List which slipped 35% pushing the cume to $67.7M for Warner Bros. Diane Lane's crime thriller Untraceable suffered a sizable sophomore slump falling 52% to an estimated $5.4M for a sum of $19.5M after ten days. Produced for over $30M, the R-rated pic is set to end with a mediocre $30-35M.

Cloverfield crumbled another 62% in its third weekend to an estimated $4.9M. Paramount has made $72M to date. The studio's specialty division Paramount Vantage expanded its Academy Award contender There Will Be Blood from 885 to 1,507 theaters and rounded out the top ten with an estimated $4.8M. Off a scant 2%, the Daniel Day-Lewis drama upped its total to $21.1M.

A pair of new comedies opened to disappointing results outside of the top ten. Eva Longoria Parker headlined the pic Over Her Dead Body and bowed to an estimated $3.6M from 1,977 sites for a weak $1,821 average. The New Line release about a ghost who haunts her fiance's new squeeze marked the first headlining role in a feature film for the Desperate Housewives star. Paramount Classics countered with the nature flick Strange Wilderness starring Steve Zahn which debuted to just $3.1M, according to estimates. The R-rated title averaged only $2,525 from 1,208 locations. Both films were trashed by critics, to nobody's surprise.

Two other films dropped out of the top ten this weekend. The Nicolas Cage blockbuster sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets took in an estimated $3.1M, off 38%, for a $209.9M cume after its seventh session. The adventure saga ranks as the ninth biggest hit released in 2007 and will surpass 300's $210.6M by the end of the week to climb one more spot. Look for Book of Secrets to conclude with $215-218M domestically representing a 25% increase over the first National Treasure's $173M from 2004. Worldwide, Secrets has already hauled in over $375M to date.

Not collecting as much treasure was the heist comedy Mad Money which fell 56% to an estimated $2M in its third weekend. With $18.6M in 17 days, the Overture Films release should finish with roughly $22M.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $93.9M which was up a sensational 42% from last year when The Messengers opened at number one with $14.7M; and up 23% from 2006 when When a Stranger Calls debuted in the top spot with $21.6M.




Compared to projections, Hannah Montana surged well ahead of my $17M forecast while The Eye bowed very close to my $14M prediction. Over Her Dead Body was close to my $6M projection and Strange Wilderness was on target with my $3M forecast
[Edited 2/3/08 17:08pm]

moving.....

She's experiencing rapid success and if she plays her cards right, she can be a billionaire before her 18th birthday. I hope she has the right people backing her.

I think Miley Cyrus is a little cutie pie. I see the media already reporting false stories and it makes me mad. I think she appears to be a normal 15 year old girl but if the media keeps spinning these stories, they might end up making her go down the wrong path.

Okay, gotta go make my "LEAVE MILEY ALONE!" video. Tootles.

I've seen interviews with this girl and she seems like a real cute, down to earth kid.

I hope that she's surrounded by good people so she doesn't end up like so many other teenage stars.

I hope she grows a super-mullet like her daddy.

RipHer2Shreds said:

You know she will.

Dance said:

I Co-Sign with this post

Dance said:

Ever seen somebody dance with one of those mugs on?

See You Again is a pretty decent pop track.

RipHer2Shreds said:

If you had a 'tween girl, you'd understand.

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus absolutely rules.

My daughter watches her show. My tivo is filled with Hannah Montana.

jbchavez said:

I feel your pain.

On the plus side though, yesterday my daughter told me she had ditched Justin Timberlake for one of the Jonas Brothers. Halleluejah!

What's up with it is that adults (or at least 18-35 year olds) aren't buying reocrds, or at the very least there is not some major superstar who everyone agrees on. It's that simple.

im still trying to figure out all the hype with hanna... cause she has no talent.. and she is not the cutest girl...

TotalAlisa said:

She looks and acts like a regular teenaged girl. I think that's the appeal.

I don't know how parents do it.

I would NEVER let my child watch that nonsense or anything that network has to offer.

Our culture is shameful

Dance said:

Honestly I don't see anything wrong with her. May not be the music I like but I do appreciate the fact that she's not marketed as some sex object for little girls to emulate.

JuliePurplehead said:

well i never shared lolli pops with friends while trying to kiss... or try to post provocatively for the camera... so no she is not normal

and she looks 19

Disney stuff always sells its that simple. As for her musically, its like a New Kids on the Block thing going on, in a few years she will say "im doing an album thats more of who i am" and the image will be sexier and than parents will get their kids a new child star, that simple. I mean come on we all have seen this scenario before, with Canessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale with GOLD solo albums and High School Musical selling a billion records why are we shocked?

Somewhere, the members of The Party are waiting tables. Wondering why the Disney hype never hit them.

she's the new Hilary Duff/Britney Spears/all the girls that Disney has churned out dating back to the original Mickey Mouse Club.

RipHer2Shreds said:

TotalAlisa said:

My friend has a 13 year old and she and her friends do that kind of shit all the time (lollipop sharing, that is). I caught her eating off my left over KFC that I'd just thrown away. Kids do some nasty ass shit nowadays. And like it or not, kids pose provocatively all the time. And while my friend's kid is 13 years old, she could easily pass as 16. All her teen friends have MySpaces in which they try to present themselves as older. One of her friends was trying to claim she was 25! So yes, Miley Cyrus is very normal, aside from the fact that she's doing all this shit to a much larger audience than the normal teenaged girl.

TotalAlisa said:

You actually tried to kiss before? You nasty little girl.
I'm gonna tell yo daddy.
[Edited 2/4/08 20:28pm]

That Hannah Montana is a legend!!![i]

JuliePurplehead said:

thats gross and that girl is 15 years old.. she was really trying to have a lesbian kiss while sharing a lolli pop.. and the average 15 year old girl does NOT do that stuff....

she looks very strange.. im holding back what i truly want to say cause either it will be edited from the mods or cause a riot

phunkdaddy said:

i have kissed a few guys before ... big deal... i know their last and first name...

and no at age 15... I did NOT do those things.. i was focused on school.. and just friendship and laughing...

kids today grow up way too fast.... whenever i go past my highschool i look at those kids and think they are literally babies.. and should NOT be doing that stuff