Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire – $102.6M
\n & the Prisoner of Azkaban – $93.6M
\n & the Sorcerer’s Stone – $90.2M ![](\"\/images\/alethtop_small.jpg\")
\n & the Chamber of Secrets – $88.3M <\/p>\n
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – $72.6M
\n The Chronicles of Narnia – $65.5M
\n The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – $62M
\n The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring – $47.2M
\n The Golden Compass – $27M (estimate)<\/b>
\n Eragon – $23.2M
\n Bridge to Terabithia – $22.5M
\n Stardust – $9.1M opening<\/p>\n
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<\/a> say it has “crashed and burned”, writing that “with muted buzz at best, expect Golden’s<\/i> 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.”<\/p>\n Industry blogger Nikki Finke<\/a> calls it a “bomb” and a “flop”, citing also low per screen averages. Paul Dergarabedian<\/a> 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”.<\/p>\n “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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/b>. There, the film may be faring better. <\/p>\n Variety<\/a> 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<\/b> for the studio.<\/p>\n These will be a worrying few days for New Line and Chris Weitz regardless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading