4.11.2006 22:09
boxofficeguru.com
Borat conquered North America on Friday as the Kazakh journalist's road trip pic opened at number one at the domestic box office with an estimated $8.9M in its first day of release crushing all competitors by a wide margin despite playing in only a fraction of the number of theaters. The R-rated Fox comedy invaded 837 theaters and averaged a stunning $10,663 per location in only one day.
Borat opened much like another recent runaway smash that was the most talked about film in the land – Michael Moore's 2004 doc Fahrenheit 9/11. That film bowed in 868 theaters and grossed a spectacular $8.1M in its first day for a scorching $9,378 average. It went on to capture $23.9M over its opening weekend in June of that year making it a surprise number one hit.
With all its hype plus its built-in fan base, the Sacha Baron Cohen film should have attracted a large part of its opening weekend turnout on Friday. But good word-of-mouth may help sustain it over the weekend. For the three-day period, Borat might find itself with a sensational $22-25M allowing it to become the surprise box office champion.
Borat conquered North America on Friday as the Kazakh journalist's road trip pic opened at number one at the domestic box office with an estimated $8.9M in its first day of release crushing all competitors by a wide margin despite playing in only a fraction of the number of theaters. The R-rated Fox comedy invaded 837 theaters and averaged a stunning $10,663 per location in only one day.
Borat opened much like another recent runaway smash that was the most talked about film in the land – Michael Moore's 2004 doc Fahrenheit 9/11. That film bowed in 868 theaters and grossed a spectacular $8.1M in its first day for a scorching $9,378 average. It went on to capture $23.9M over its opening weekend in June of that year making it a surprise number one hit.
With all its hype plus its built-in fan base, the Sacha Baron Cohen film should have attracted a large part of its opening weekend turnout on Friday. But good word-of-mouth may help sustain it over the weekend. For the three-day period, Borat might find itself with a sensational $22-25M allowing it to become the surprise box office champion.
