Bulgarian Box Office Update - Weekend 6-8 Jan

It's not so dark in the BO after all

Puss in Boots continues its reign in the Bulgarian box office chart for a third week. The feline adventures fall 35% and have BGN 954,461 so far, with the 1m barrier to be crossed as we speak. 

Sherlock Holmes 2 is once again the runner-up, with a steeper decline of 41% and BGN 668,676 so far. It, however, is not privileged to come in 3D or to be extremely children friendly. 

The highest new entry of the week arrives at #3. The horrible in every aspect The Darkest Hour draws BGN 56,086, which is quite a respectable result for a movie with B-cast. Perhaps, the cinema goers were drawn by its alien invasion premise or perhaps by its setting in Moscow. You know how many Bulgarians feel about that... Anyway, the fact that it beats The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo just displays what the tastes here are. But what can be expected when there is no single normal movie theatre in Sofia apart from multiplexes flooded by popcorn and coke loving individuals. 

Mission Impossible 4 retains its impressive performance and stands at #4, with a fall of 35% and a total of BGN 733,366.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo enters new with BGN 41,795 at #5. It's not far from the result of The Darkest Hour, which enjoys a 3D premium, and, in addition, with previews The Girl has BGN 69,341 so far. It's, however, still an underwhelming result for a thriller with Daniel Craig, but the obscure translation of the title (yeah, I know it's the book name) and the somewhat unfocused promotion are not to be underestimated. In comparison, the movie comes slightly below the debut of Fincher's last - The Social Network but considerably higher than Zodiac.

At #6 the last new entry, 50:50 boasts BGN 10,626, which is a poor result whichever way you look at it. Still, the little movie with a heart has collected BGN 20,561 with previews. The result was to be expected first because of the lack of promotion, second due to the lack of real stars and third - the Bulgarian audience was never (and would never be) ready for such movies. But it's good that someone somewhere releases them here!

Happy Feet 2 finds its, hm, feet and with a decrease of just 20% has stolen BGN 237,627 in total. At #8 BG sensation Operaciq Shmenti Kapeli once again registers an increase, this time by 3% and has BGN 1,148,548 as a whole.

At #9 and #10 the holiday-related flicks collapse, with New Year's Eve sliding 67% and having BGN 264,781 totally, while it is followed by the much superior Arthur Christmas, down 61% and a total of BGN 394,374.

Outside the top ten, this week we see the release of figures for Ronal The Barbarian, which was out on December 30. The curiosity has collected BGN 15,384 in its run - an okay result, having in mind its limited screening and European status. 

This week the top ten is left by One Day, with BGN 22,468 totally. The romantic comedy can easily be considered a flop, but its limited release means that it still attracted a viewer or two. And if we have small and cosy cinemas where One Day could have been screened from now on, the situation would have been different, but Vienna we are not.

Twilight 4.1 is also out. The movie has collected BGN 555,258 so far, which ranks it on par with the third instalment of the ridiculously lucrative franchise and somewhat lower than the final result of part two. Jack and Jill also says bye to the first ten, it has earned BGN 149,727. In comparison Just Go With It has collected a total of USD 161,462, which Jack and Jill would definitely not reach.

Compared to my projections, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo came close to my BGN 75,000 (including previews) forecast. The Darkest Hour was also relatively near my BGN 44,000 forecast, while 50:50 was very slightly below my BGN 25,000 expectation, including previews. I should run the lottery now...

Next weekend's projections:

Moneyball - BGN 40,000, including previews

Contraband - BGN 30,000

(BGN 1 = USD 0.65/EUR 0.51)