Bulgarian Box Office Update - Weekend 27-29 Jan

With a strong grip of the BG box office

Unsurprisingly Underworld: Awakening retains the top spot this week, despite the arrival of three new proposals. The Kate Backinsale sci-fi/horror flick retreats 43% and has collected BGN 271,733 so far.

Showing once again that action movies are always welcomed in this country (just take a look at the PM), Haywire debuts at #2 with BGN 38,908 and BGN 71,402 including previews. Cinema goers were driven by the action premise and the cast of big names, though maybe many were surprised by the arthouse feeling of the whole package. So, it'd be interesting to see whether the Steven Soderbergh movie will have strong legs in the weeks to come.

The Muppets is at #3, with a decrease of 41% and the okay BGN 103,723 for ten days in cinemas, while mega hit Puss in Boots stands at #4, with a fall of 43% and BGN 1,205,260 as a total tally.

Going slowly to the 1 million threshold, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows is at #5, declining by just 33% and with BGN 906,000 so far.

The second new offer of the week is at #6, where Devil's Double shows that little movies generally struggle to draw big numbers in Bulgaria. The movie collects BGN 16,914 for the weekend.

Next up is Contraband, with a fall of 38% and BGN 138,377 in its trunk.

The unpretentious Little Big Panda debuts at #8 with BGN 15,676. Not spectacular but having in mind its B-status, it's a passable result.

The top ten is rounded by The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, with a decrease of 33% and a total of BGN 219,526, while Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol retreats with 38% and BGN 874,401.

This week the top ten is left by The Darkest Hour, which has managed to steal BGN 208,028, Happy Feet 2, which with its BGN 262,249 may be seen as a disappointment in comparison to recent animated hits (it's awful, so no regrets here), and Moneyball and its BGN 38,607 - it's about baseball, you know.

Compared to my projections, Haywire almost met my BGN 68,000 prediction, Devil's Double missed my BGN 30,000 expectation, while Little Big Panda was somewhat close to my BGN 20,000 forecast.

Next weekend's forecast:

The Help - 19,000 (it's really good)
One For The Money - 38,000, including previews
Man on a Ledge - 42,000, including previews
Chronicle - 18,000 (it's superb)

(BGN 1 = USD 0.65/EUR 0.51)