Top Ten x Three (Box Office)

It's hard to avoid the continual reportage of which movies are opening huge or flopping. Box office is more important to moviegoers than ever. One assumes at some point this fascination will turn back to the actual content of the movies but until the happy day when the pendulum swings, here are three top 10 2008 lists which are all box office derived -- if not the kind you are usually subjected to.

Top Ten Foreign Language Releases

01 Under the Same Moon (Mexico) $12.3
Almost 3 times more successful than its nearest rival. We can attribute this 1) the large Spanish language speaking population in the US. 2) For whatever reason, arthouse auds love foreign movies about little kids on journeys. 3) Touching but not gag inducing [my review]
02 The Counterfeiters (Austria) $4.8
The Foreign Oscar winner. This sizeable gross is why distributors wait until after Oscar noms are announced to release their damn movies. Unfortunately that causes two major problems: a glut of quality foreign language pictures for one month. And worse: movies that don't get nominated sometimes get shelved.
03 Jodhaa Akbar (India) $3.4
Bollywood movies --this one featuring superstar Hrithik Roshan --are the only kind of foreign offerings in the States that need absolutely no media attention to win big numbers.
04 The Band's Visit (Israel) $2.9
05 Priceless (France) $1.4
Audrey Tatou apparently has a loyal following in the States since Amélie. Her movies always see release and usually do decent business.
06 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania) $1.1
Release date woes. I remain convinced that if this movie had opened when it originally planned to (November 2007), the Oscars would have been guilted into paying it more mind because the critical outpouring would have been even bigger. And the gross would have been higher, too, with year end top ten lists and awards pre-season providing it free advertising. It's on DVD now. Why haven't you seen it yet? [#4 on TFE's 2007 top ten list]
07 U Me Aur Hum (India) $1.0
08 Caramel (Lebanon) $1.0
09 The Year My Parent's Went on Vacation (Brazil) $.6
These last two were also failed Oscar submissions. 60+ films submit each year. They all can't be nominated.
10 Roman de Gare (France) $.4
Claude LeLouch's new thriller starring Fanny Ardant. (my review)

Top Ten Biggest Budgets
Because this makes the usually reported top ten of the year
less gargantuan looking in their imagined profits.

01 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -Budget $200.
Is that really all onscreen? It opened well below the first installment's bow. Will the worldwide box office also be slipping? And if so what happens to the other three movies.
02 Iron Man Budget: $140.
The year's #1 film, earning $223 thus far and still flying. How sturdy are those jet pack legs? Are we talking Spider-Man franchise grosses of the mid to high $300s? (prev post)

03 Speed Racer Budget: $120.
The gross so far is $30 million. Oops. (my review)
04 10,000 BC Budget: $105
If it costs so much to make why does it look so invariably cheap and tacky? One of the dumbest movies ever made is #3 of the year thus far.
05 The SpiderWick Chronicles Budget: $90
It earned $71 at the box office, the 9th biggest grosser that 2008 has seen so far... but low for a franchise hopeful
06 Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who Budget: $85
Second only to Iron Man at the 08 box office sweepstakes with $151 in grosses stateside.
07 Jumper Budget: $85
Gross: $79. Franchise hopes will depend on how large the worldwide cume is but if there's a sequel, it seems probable that it'll be a cheaper rehash of same. Maybe fewer name actors. Although what does that even mean when jumper #1 Hayden Christensen is about 100 x more famous than jumper #2 Jamie Bell who is 100x more talented. It's bizarro world at the movies.
08 Fool's Gold Budget: $70
Damn. Kate + Matthew don't come cheap. The movie has earned $70 @ the B.O. (#10 of the year thus far)
09 Leatherheads Budget: $58
That $30.9 gross is why period stuff is always considered risky. It's a budget upper without bankability booster like, say, visual effects. People love their CGI. A great costume is totally a visual effect for me... but I'm not >ahem< normal when it comes to moviegoing
10 Rambo Budget: $50
Is anyone more devoted to his own franchises than Sly Stallone? This is the 4th Rambo (and lowest grosser among them with only $42.7) and he's already done how many Rockys... six?

Top Ten Movies with Actresses (leads or co-leads)

01 27 Dresses (Katharine Heigl) $76.7
02 Fool's Gold (Kate Hudson) $70.1
03 Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Tour (Miley Cyrus) $65.2
04 Step Up 2 the Streets (Briana Evigan) $58.0
05 Baby Mama (Tina Fey & Amy Poehler) $47.3
06 Nim's Island (Abigail Breslin & Jodie Foster) $45.2
07 College Road Trip (Raven Simone) $44.0
08 Prom Night (Brittany Snow) $43.4
09 Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (Angela Bassett) $41.9
10 What Happens in Vegas (Cameron Diaz) $40.3

Someone kill me now.
*