The Golden Compass’ massive budget of around $250 million means that it needs to succeed, and succeed big, at the box office. Unfortunately for New Line – and for fans hoping for sequels – the movie appears to be floundering somewhat at the American box-office. Whilst it has taken the number one spot, over this weekend, the film took in just $27 million. Last week, New Line said they were hoping for between $30 and $40 million.
For reference, Slashfilm give this comparison with other fantasy films’ opening weekends:
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire – $102.6M
& the Prisoner of Azkaban – $93.6M
& the Sorcerer’s Stone – $90.2M
& the Chamber of Secrets – $88.3M
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – $72.6M
The Chronicles of Narnia – $65.5M
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – $62M
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring – $47.2M
The Golden Compass – $27M (estimate)
Eragon – $23.2M
Bridge to Terabithia – $22.5M
Stardust – $9.1M opening
Whilst Harry Potter is in a league of its own, that The Golden Compass came in nowhere near even the first Lord of the Rings and made just $4 million more than Eragon is worrying. Indeed, Slashfilm call the numbers a “disaster”. Cinematical say it has “crashed and burned”, writing that “with muted buzz at best, expect Golden’s numbers to plummet next weekend, especially with a new crowd of pre-Christmas contenders packing in, and total domestic box office to top out at around $80 million. Ouch.”
Industry blogger Nikki Finke calls it a “bomb” and a “flop”, citing also low per screen averages. Paul Dergarabedian at Media By Numbers, a tracking firm, says “It’s below expectations, but it’s not an out-and-out debacle.” News agency Reuters’ headline on the matter is “Golden Compass disappoints at Box Office”.
“It’s a little bit disappointing,” said Rolf Mittweg, president and chief operating officer of New Line’s worldwide distribution and marketing operations. The Guardian reports Mittweg as saying exit polls were favourable and that he was hoping word of mouth would help the film in coming weeks, especially with school holidays starting. “It’s all about longevity,” Mittweg said.
The film’s producer, Deborah Forte, was asked the the premiere’s press conference what level of gross The Golden Compass needed to take at the box office in order for the sequels to get the go-ahead. She was not best-pleased at the question and answered that New Line would be taking into consideration worldwide takings. There, the film may be faring better.
Variety say it has “taken Europe by storm”. In the UK, the film took $3.1 million in the first two days, beating Narnia’s record. With little competition, French, Spanish and German takings are also very good. This does not translate into money for New Line however – the studio sold off foreign distribution rights before the film was released. Mittner says proceeds from those sales have covered about 60 percent of the film’s budget. Taking into account outside investors and tax breaks, he said New Line was covered for about 70 to 80 percent of the budget, and the film would be profitable for the studio.
These will be a worrying few days for New Line and Chris Weitz regardless.
Today’s The Independent on Sunday newspaper has a lengthy feature about the modern child star in film and television. It makes reference to the pressures on Dakota Blue Richards, who is rumoured to be earning 100,000 GBP for The Golden Compass movie. However, much of the article’s focus is on actor Ben Walker, who plays Roger in the film. Speaking to journalist Hermione Eyre (herself a former child star) he discusses amongst other things how to cry on set. There is also featured a summary of the child acting career of Freddie Highmore, voice actor for Pantalaimon. You can read the article in full here.
Our Golden Compass Board game contest has now closed. Well done to everybody who submitted the correct answer(s). Winners have now been selected at random and they are: