Bulgarian Box Office Update - Weekend 20-22 Jan

Nothing's gonna stop her now

So it needed vampires and werewolves for the cat to be kicked off from the number one slot in Bulgaria. Thus, Underwold 4 comes first with a result of BGN 109,048, which is higher than the final tallies of instalments 1 and 2, while the USD 164,969 final box office of part three is definitely within reach. 

At the runner-up spot, The Muppets surprises with its somewhat potent box office result of BGN 54,788. Back-to-back comparisons with the Pixar or Dreamworks titans are worthless, but as a whole, having in mind the attitude of Bulgarians towards such "children" stuff, it's a relatively okay result.

Thus, after four weeks on the top, Puss In Boots slips 45% and has earned the massive BGN 1,165,953 during its theatrical run so far.

Sherlock Holmes 2 is at #4, with a decline of 46% and the amazing BGN 863,124, while Contraband comes next with a fall of just 34% and BGN 102,798 in total.

At #6 Mission Impossible 4 continues to impress, sliding 48% and with BGN 859,182 on its account. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is next, with the disappointing total figure of BGN 190,508, a decrease of 46%.

The Darkest Hour feels most the arrival of Underworld and the taking of its 3D screens and collapses with 55% to #8. It has BGN 187,994 so far.

Happy Feet 2 and Moneyball round up the top ten. The penguin shenanigans have BGN 257,721 in total, down this week 47%, while the Brad Pitt's flick cements its flop status in Bulgaria, with BGN 31,794 so far, a fall of 53%.

The other new proposal of the week, the Bulgarian disaster called Tzahes, fails to even enter the top ten and can be found at #12 with the pity BGN 3,683. 

This week the top ten is left by Bulgarian behemoth Operaciq Shmenti Kapeli, which has collected BGN 1,177,018. The movie directed and distributed by Vladi Vyrgala (a famous Bulgarian comedian) surprised many and showed that you may deliver a big hit on your own and just by a strong word of mouth. Thus, the movie easily becomes one of the most successful Bulgarian movies in the post-communism history of the country. 50:50 is also out and its BGN 42,831 box office unfortunately shows that independent titles strive to find an audience in Bulgaria. It's not completely out of the blue then when the distributors cancel even already bought films from cinema distribution on these shores. 

Compared to my last week projections, Underworld topped my BGN 65,000 expectation, The Muppets met my target of BGN 50,000, while Tzahes was below my BGN 7,000 forecast. 

Next weekend's projections:

Haywire - 68,000, including previews

Devil's Double - 30,000, including previews

Little Big Panda - 20,000

(BGN 1 = USD 0.65/EUR 0.51)