Will Borat’s Glory Extend Through Week 2?
Twentieth Century Fox film executives are insisting that they were justified in reducing the number of theaters showing Borat to 837 prior to last weekend’s opening.
The film took in $26.5 million, an unprecedented figure for a film opening in so few theaters.
Fox distribution chief Bruce Snyder claims that the decision to cut the number of theaters by nearly two thirds will work in favor of the movie next weekend because its initial success will increase awareness of it.
Daily Variety reported on Tuesday that even now, only 57 percent of people surveyed at theaters are aware of the film versus 90 percent for The Santa Clause 3.
However, other industry observers contend that the box-office results for Borat over the weekend exposed the shortcomings of tracking surveys and the risk of relying too heavily on them.
Fox is planning to expand Borat to about 2,400 theaters next weekend.
Meanwhile, The Santa Clause 3 turned out to be something of a disappointment.
Earning $19.5 million on 3,458 screens, it was off 32.8 percent from the $29-million debut of 2002’s The Santa Clause 2, which eventually earned $139 million.
However, it was duly noted that this time around, the Disney film faced competition for the family audience from Aardman/DreamWorks Animation’s Flushed Away, which exceeded analysts’ expectations by opening in third place with $18.9 million.
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