'Lilo & Stitch' Wins the Week
Disney's Lilo & Stitch snatched $55,570,116 in its first week to pull out a victory over Minority Report, which had beat it by a narrow $416,913 margin in a heated battle during the weekend ending June 23.
That margin widened to $3,735,728 in favor of Stitch by the end of the week as Minority had reached $51,834,388, ranking No. 2 Monday through Thursday.
Stitch actually held up better through the week than Disney's last traditionally-animated hit Tarzan, which opened on the same weekend in 1999.
Tarzan fell 50.4% from Sunday to $5,079,066 to Monday, then slipped to $4,807,697 on Tuesday and again to $4,548,372 on Wednesday, rebounding on Thursday to $4,722,874. Its first week tally came in at $53,379,977.
Stitch, on the other hand, eased 49.5% to $5,108,107 on Monday. It then actually made a smidgen more on Tuesday ($5,117,696) and Wednesday ($5,118,406), followed by a slight dip to $4,965,695 on Thursday.
Tarzan's first week accounted for 31.2% of its $171,091,819 final gross. Should Stitch follow a similar path could wind up with over $175 million by the end of its run.
Minority Report, though, was no mid-week slouch. At this time of year most kids are off from school, so movies appealing to them perform strongly on weekdays, often comparable to their weekend tallies. Minority's pattern of losing business as the week progressed—from $4,507,000 on Monday to $3,601,000 on Thursday—is normal for an older-skewing picture in its first week.
That margin widened to $3,735,728 in favor of Stitch by the end of the week as Minority had reached $51,834,388, ranking No. 2 Monday through Thursday.
Stitch actually held up better through the week than Disney's last traditionally-animated hit Tarzan, which opened on the same weekend in 1999.
Tarzan fell 50.4% from Sunday to $5,079,066 to Monday, then slipped to $4,807,697 on Tuesday and again to $4,548,372 on Wednesday, rebounding on Thursday to $4,722,874. Its first week tally came in at $53,379,977.
Stitch, on the other hand, eased 49.5% to $5,108,107 on Monday. It then actually made a smidgen more on Tuesday ($5,117,696) and Wednesday ($5,118,406), followed by a slight dip to $4,965,695 on Thursday.
Tarzan's first week accounted for 31.2% of its $171,091,819 final gross. Should Stitch follow a similar path could wind up with over $175 million by the end of its run.
Minority Report, though, was no mid-week slouch. At this time of year most kids are off from school, so movies appealing to them perform strongly on weekdays, often comparable to their weekend tallies. Minority's pattern of losing business as the week progressed—from $4,507,000 on Monday to $3,601,000 on Thursday—is normal for an older-skewing picture in its first week.
