Ratatouille gobbles up healthy US box office
Story by Jack Foley
A RAT named Remy – not a mouse named Mickey – helped Disney and Pixar to the top spot at the US box office at the weekend (June 29-July 1), thanks to their latest animated adventure Ratatouille.
The animated comedy about a gourmet rat that gets an unlikely chance to cook in a French restaurant, debuted with a healthy $47.2 million according to early studio estimates.
In doing so, it beat Bruce Willis’ action vehicle Live Free or Die Hard – aka Die Hard 4.0 in the UK – into second-place with $33.15 million. It means that since opening in America on Wednesday, the return of John McClane has amassed $48.2 million.
And to complete a hat-trick of positives for the American box office, Michael Moore’s controversial healthcare documentary Sicko took $4.5 million to debut at No. 9, despite a much smaller release.
Last weekend’s No. 1 movie, Evan Almighty plummeted to third spot with $15.1 million, raising its 10-day total to $60.6 million. But the film’s 52% fall from its opening weekend figures mean that it’s unlikely to recoup its massive $175 million cost.
Ratatouille analysis
While Pixar’s latest Ratatouille easily dominated the weekend box office in America, it had the smallest debut among releases by Disney’s Pixar Animation unit since A Bug’s Life in 1998.
But this could be down to a particularly over-crowded summer box office and audience fatigue rather than attempts to make a rat the unlikely hero of a family movie.
To all intents and purposes, Ratatouille is a blistering return to form for Pixar following the relative ‘disappointment’ of Cars – a fact reflected by the overwhelmingly positive reviews that are among the best of the year for a new release.
Don’t bet against strong word of mouth helping little Remy to a lengthy stay in cinemas as audiences begin to appreciate just how special Brad Bird’s latest is!
Chuck Viane, Disney’s head of distribution, admitted that Ratatouille was up against more competition than past Pixar releases and agreed that sparkling reviews should give it the staying power needed to turn it into another massive hit.
“Our whole idea was to set ourselves up for what we call the 10-day opening,” she said, with a view to the upcoming Fourth of July week.
“We look at this as one extended playtime. We’re in this for the long haul. We’re glad we’re No. 1, but we’re not trying to make this just a weekend wonder.”
Die Hard success
Bruce Willis’s successful return to the Die Hard franchise after a 12-year absence proved once again that age is no barrier when it comes to box office success (much like Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa earlier this year).
The opening figures for Die Hard 4.0 delighted everyone at distributor Twentieth Century Fox, with Bert Livingston, general sales manager, commenting: “John McClane is everyman. He’s a hero, but he’s thrust into situations, and I think people love that. He’s clever, he’s funny and he gets the job done.”
Die Hard 4.0 opens in UK cinemas on Wednesday, July 4 but you’ll have to wait for the delights of Ratatouille until October…
Read the glowing reaction to Ratatouille and see pictures of the Paris premiere