BOX OFFICE: Li/Chan team-up is a fighting success

By Matt Holmes / June 24, 2011

U.S. BOX OFFICE FOR THE WEEKEND OF 18-20th APRIL 20081 The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) $21.4M $21.4M 2 Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) $17.7M $17.7M 3 Prom Night (2008) $8.67M $32.1M 4 88 Minutes (2007) $6.96M $6.96M 5 Nim's Island (2008) $5.69M $32.9M 6 21 (2008) $5.52M $70M 7 Street Kings (2008) $4.18M $20.1M 8 Horton Hears a Who! (2008) $3.51M $144M 9 Leatherheads (2008) $3.05M $26.6M 10 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008) $2.97M $2.97M The long awaited and at one time unlikely pairing of Jet Li and Jackie Chan with the strange fantasy gimmick of The Forbidden Kingdom proved to be a big success for Lionsgate with a $20.9 million opening, a number that at one point looked ambitious. It's a good showing for a movie opening in the U.S. that is fronted by two Asians, even if they both have a steady fanbase. Judd Apatow's latest produced venture Forgetting Sarah Marshall fell way short of the $30 million openings of Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin - but with a movie fronted by an unknown lead, a unknown British funnyman and a slightly recognisable actress (but no Katherine Heigl) - it's $17.7 million is a good showing. The reviews have been pretty solid and this could become a cult favourite on DVD and it's my betting that it's move from opening against Sex and the City next month as it was originally intended was a very smart move indeed.

Said to be one of the worst films of recent memory, the Al Pacino "STV then last minute change of heart and placed into theatres thriller" 88 Minutes managed a weak $6.8 million and will soon end up in that bargain bin basement it was originally destined for. Pacino cries at another quickly forgotten detective role for the great vet... Street Kings for those keeping count has now made $21 million on a $20 million budget. Well that was sure worth making wasn't it you Reeves-a-holics? Leatherheads is dropping out of theatres soon but it's woefully short of it's $58 million budget (which must have gone to the three leads because where is the budget needed for a 30's style comedy?) with a $38 million total. source - box office mojo