USA Weekend Box Office Final - May 19 - 21, 2006
All genre films are in BOLD.
1. The Da Vinci Code………………$77,073,388
Engagements:3,735 Cume: $77,073,388
2. Over the Hedge…………………$38,457,003
Engagements:4,059 Cume: $38,457,003
3. Mission: Impossible III…………$11,349,570
Engagements:3,450 Cume: $103,535,579
4. Poseidon……………………….$9,224,340
Engagements:3,555 Cume: $36,801,887
5. RV…………………………….$5,003,489
Engagements:2,925 Cume: $50,320,183
6. See No Evil…………………….$4,581,233
Engagements:1,257 Cume: $4,581,233
7. Just My Luck……………………$3,384,371
Engagements:2,543 Cume: $10,467,641
8. An American Haunting…………….$1,478,785
Engagements:1,265 Cume: $13,438,985
9. United 93………………………$1,400,200
Engagements:1,308 Cume: $28,256,480
10. Akeelah and the Bee…………….$1,006,653
Engagements: 751 Cume: $15,728,889
Source: Variety
I’ve noticed this before, but it’s especially pronounced this time. What qualifies as a “genre” movie, as signified by the bold type? I was thinking that it meant SF, Fantasy or Horror, when written up in the “Slice of SciFi” context, but none of the top 4 listed above are “genre” movies in that context. So what does it mean?
I guess The Da Vinci Code would be considered religious, in a sense. Does that make it a genre movie, though?
I would consider Over the Hedge as fantasy: talking animals, that seems like fantasy to me.
MI3 uses “state of the art” technology (think Q-branch from James Bond), so that could be considered as tech sci-fi (is that a term?).
Poseidon: You got me. Maybe because there’s a tsunami? Wouldn’t that make something like The Perfect Storm a genre movie too?
Again, we seem to always come back to this same old thing.
Slice of SciFi covers anything and everything science fiction, fantasy, fable, horror, supernatural, paranormal, as well as, anything in the real world, that is somehow connected to any or all of the above. Whether that be the world of real science, high-technology or whatever. It all falls under our banner of expertise and is called SPECULATIVE FICTION for a reason.
Besides SLICE of SCIFI has a much better ring and rolls off of the tongue so much better than SLICE of SPECULATIVE FICTION - takes up less airtime and server space as well. :). For those who aren’t so anal about it, it works out just fine. For those who have a problem with it - well, it goes back to what Joe Murphy once said on a past program, “It’s our frickin’ show and website, we’ll call it whatever the hell we want.” And those who like us will tune in and those who get upset over the minor details ——well, they will too.
All movies listed above in bold are genre related in one or more of the wide categories we cover at Slice of SciFi.
Let’s look at each one:
1. The Da Vinci Code - a finer work of pure fantasy and speculative fiction you will never find. Based on a book that hails itself as just that, and it is based on one of the oldest tales of speculative fiction known to mankind.
2. Over the Hedge - pure animated fantasy - for God’s sake it’s about talking animals.
3. Mission Impossible III - Let’s face it, Tom Cruise’s entire life is speculative fiction.
4. Poseidon - Yeah, like that is ever going to happen in the real world. Pure dramatic fantasy on a high tech luxury liner. Doesn’t get more speculative, more fanciful and more fiction than that.
We at Slice of SciFi refuse to allow ourselves to be pigeon-holed into some tight neat little suffocating niche’ that will forever type-cast or tie our hands to be unable to report on those things we know that we and our fans alike want to hear and read about within that ever-growing field of speculative fiction. So gear up and strap on boys and girls it’s going to be a fun and bumpy ride.
OK, jeez, I was just asking, so I knew what you were trying to tell us.
Now that I know you’re the Potter Stewart of movie categorization, I’ll be able to interpret the highlighting in that context.
Potter Stewart…….I like that.
One of his more famous quotes, “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.”