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Box office champ "Stomp" a hit with young women
2007-01-17
Young women made "Stomp the Yard" an overwhelming success at the North American box offiec during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. The low-budget Sony release grossed $25.88 million for the four-day period, according to final data issued Tuesday. Industry trackers hadn't expected the PG-13 film to climb into the $20 million range. "Stomp," which centers on a troubled kid who joins a university's step team, connected primarily with women younger than 25. According to exit pollster CinemaScore, those women came away as big fans, giving the film an A-minus. "Stomp," which sent "Night at the Museum" down to No. 2 with $21.85 million after three weeks at the top, was the only new release to have much of an impact at the box office. Universal Pictures' gangster flick "Alpha Dog" opened at No. 7 with $7.41 million, ahead of the Disney horror film "Primeval" with $6.79 million. MGM's release of the Weinstein Co.'s "Arthur and the Invisibles" opened at No. 9 with $5.70 million. (The part live-action, part animated film had a brief qualifying run December 29, but no grosses were released at that time.) Overall sales were just 1.1% higher than during the year-ago period, when "Glory Road" led the field. "Alpha Dog," an R-rated film from writer-director Nick Cassavetes, generated a B-minus, according to CinemaScore. The audience was split evenly between men and women, and fans under 25 were both in the majority and more enthusiastic. While Disney says it moved its crocodile horror film "Primeval" up ahead of the Weinstein Co.'s March release of the similarly-themed "Rogue," considering the critical and commercial reaction to the R-rated film, one could argue that the film was buried in the low-moviegoing month of January. The male-skewing audiences gave it a D-plus. French director Luc Besson's "Arthur" may not have generated much box office, but it scored solidly with audiences, receiving an A-plus. Not surprisingly, most of the audience for the PG-rated movie was younger than 25. Adding to the weekend's congestion were three films that expanded considerably this weekend. Paramount Pictures expanded its Golden Globe winner "Dreamgirls" to 1,907 theaters, an increase of 1,055 theaters. The No. 4 film grossed $10.26 million, but on a three-day to three-day comparison, the film dropped 3.5% from last frame even with the expansion. Paramount also claimed the No. 5 spot with "Freedom Writers," which boosted its theater count by 819 to 2,179. The Hilary Swank drama earned $8.85 million in its second weekend. Universal expanded its sixth-ranked "Children of Men" to 1,508 theaters (an increase of 299). Director Alfonso Cuaron's Clive Owen starrer grossed $7.45 million. In limited release, Picturehouse added 150 theaters to its release of "Pan's Labyrinth." The Guillermo del Toro-directed film grossed $2.61 million. Sony Pictures Classics added 1,179 theaters to its release of "Curse of the Golden Flower," but the film generated just $2.19 million. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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