Bulgarian Boxoffice Update - Weekend Sept 30 - Oct 2

This high jump record was enough for the #1

We should never underestimate the power of a Statham-DeNiro combo as Killer Elite stormed the Bulgarian boxoffice and crowned the chart for the weekend with the excellent BGN 89,133, or BGN 163,090 including previews. The result is as twice as good as the BGN 49,427 debut of Limitless, De Niro's last movie in Bulgaria, but is somewhat lower than the BGN 120,889 scored by The Mechanic, the previous Statham film released here. Like it or not, it's the action movies that play really well in the country.

Unlike action, and proving that excellent romantic comedies are not to the taste of the casual Bulgarian cinema goer, Crazy Stupid Love, the other major release of the week, tanks by arriving in at #6 with BGN 18,332 and BGN 25,674, including previews. It's really a shame that one of the few good movies of the autumn has been met so miserably. And, it says a lot for the people who most often go to the cinemas.

Two other new releases join the top 20 but outside the top 10. At #11 curious Finnish cartoon Moomins and The Comet Chase earns BGN 3,328, while Wim Wenders' 3D ballet documentary Pina comes in at #12 with BGN 3,136. The latter's result is however made by only one screen and we should not forget that including the film's festival days it already has BGN 16,744 in total. 

Going back to the top ten, it seems that Spy Kids 4 has found the love of the public as it eases by just 19% and with a total of BGN 101,987 stands at #2. Close on its heels is Abduction, which boasts BGN 100,512, without the need of any 4D gimmicks to support it. It looks like that Lautner in an action mood is a dream come true for the local audience. The two films also have splendid results for non-major studio outings.

At #4 The Smurfs is creeping closely to the 1m threshold, with BGN 928,677 so far and a fall of 30%. Johnny English Reborn is also showing good legs, down 34% and with BGN 213,356 so far.

At #7 Final Destination 5 slows down 29% and has BGN 165,352 in its books, while How She Does It has collected BGN 60,035 so far, and retreats by the good 39%.

The top ten is wrapped up by Drive, whose BGN 78,094 is a welcome sight for an arthouse title and by Conan The Barbarian and its not-so-almighty BGN 335,879.

Compared to my last week's projections, Killer Elite was condiderably underestimated by me and my too ridiculous BGN 55,000 forecast. At the same time I put too much faith in the good sense of the audience and predicted BGN 40,000 (incl. previews) for Crazy Stupid Love, which is still not so far away than its actual result. As regards Moomins, it managed to collect just as half as my BGN 7,000.

The top ten is left by Horrible Bosses and its glorious BGN 335,879 result so far, which made the title one of the most successful comedies of the year. Joining the club of the few 3D failures, Green Hornet retreats with the awful BGN 107,021.

Next weekend's predictions:

Real Steel - 80,000

Dream House - 15,000
Largo Winch 2 - 12,000

Bulgarian title Operacia Shmenti Kapeli (the title is untranslatable) is also on a wide release but I doubt that any figures regarding its performance will be released.

(BGN 1 = USD 0.68/EUR 0.51)