Bond Is Bigger Than Ever
The holiday movie season kicked off this weekend on a high note as James Bond took on the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
Gail O'Neill takes a look at the numbers, in her Monday "Box Office Plus" segment for The Early Show.
| BOX OFFICE PLUS | |||
| 1. | The World Is Not Enough | $37.2 million | |
| 2. | Sleepy Hollow | $30.5 million | |
| 3. | Pokemon: The First Movie | $13.3 million | |
| 4. | The Bone Collector | $6.5 million | |
| 5. | Dogma | $4.1 million | |
The World Is Not Enough was not only James Bond's biggest opening, but the biggest opening in the history of MGM.
"James Bond in and of himself will bring huge crowds to the movie theaters, especially when combined with a very smart and young-skewing marketing push," says Entertainment Weekly writer Dave Karger.
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They cast Denise Richards as one of the Bond women, notes Karger, adding, "She has a big fan base among younger people, they had a huge promotion-tie in with MTV, and they put throck band Garbage on the soundtrack with the first single."
Sleepy Hollow also opened huge. The Headless Horseman found his audience in those who aren't traditionally Bond fans.
"The audience for Sleepy Hollow definitely skews a bit younger, and more female, than the James Bond film," explains Karger.
He says part of the success is due to the combination of Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, who is one of the coolest young actresses working today, and director Tim Burton, who has had a string of hits and knows how to really make a visually stylistic film.
This was the first time that two films have opened with more than $30 million at the box office.
Next week, Arnold Schwarzenegger opens with End of Days, going after the same male audience as the Bond film.
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