I am talking about a movie that I am sure almost everyone has already seen on the charts, but never gave it much attention. I am talking about a small and to almost all of us unknown movie called What the #$*! Do We Know?!. I am sure, all of you have seen this title floating somewhere in the box-office charts and that for a long time.

And you know why? Because the movie is out for 43 weeks now. I was released on February 6th against Barbershop 2 and Miracle. It came out in ONE mere theatre with a decent, but definitely not spectacular average of $7,655. It took 15 weeks, until the movie expanded to more than 10 thatres. At its peak the movie hit 146 theatres. That was in its 38th week. This movie's run is EXTREMELY remarkable, considering that it is not an IMAX film. It is just a plain movie. I hardly find any words to descirbe this movie's performance. Its PTA is steadier than some IMAX films' PTA is. The PTA has gone under $2,000 only once so far and for instance its PTA in its 32nd week was higher than in ts 2nd week!


And it's not like the movie is well known or overall beloved. This philosophical, documentary-like fantasy movie stands at 38% at RT and its IMDB Score is just 5.9/10. That is all far from great. Yet this movie manages to hold on well each week.

Here we come to the most interesting part.

Take a look at its box-office run so far:


Weekend - Weekend Gross - % Change - Theatres - (PTA) - Total Gross


Feb 6–8 - $7,655 - NEW - 1 - ($7,655) - $7,655
Feb 13–15 - $3,983 - -48.0% - 1 - ($3,983) - $16,859
Feb 20–22 - $3,725 - -6.5% - 1 - ($3,725) - $26,981
Feb 27–29 - $9,098 - +144% - 2 - ($4,549) - $39,151
Mar 5–7 - $10,549 - +15.9% - 2 - ($5,274) - $60,026
Mar 12–14 - $6,493 - -38.4% - 2 - ($3,246) - $70,358
Mar 19–21 - $10,617 - +63.5% - 2 - ($5,308) - $89,082
Mar 26–28 - $8,879 - -16.4% - 2 - ($4,439) - $108,204
Apr 2–4 - $12,236 - +37.8% - 5 - ($2,447) - $127,380
Apr 9–11 - $8,243 - -32.6% - 4 - ($2,060) - $140,136
Apr 16–18 - $11,854 - +43.8% - 2 - ($5,927) - $166,187
Apr 23–25 - $18,871 - +59.2% - 2 - ($9,435) - $196,010
Apr 30–May 2 - $19,988 - +5.9% - 2 - ($9,994) - $232,810
May 7–9 - $39,800 - +99.1% - 7 - ($5,685) - $293,621
May 14–16 - $61,123 - +53.6% - 14 - ($4,365) - $369,008
May 21–23 - $66,183 - +8.3% - 13 - ($5,091) - $490,712
May 28–30 - $63,644 - -3.8% - 20 - ($3,182) - $603,792
Jun 4–6 - $57,211 - -10.1% - 19 - ($3,011) - $711,358
Jun 11–13 - $47,420 - -17.1% - 14 - ($3,387) - $808,439
Jun 18–20 - $55,823 - +17.7% - 11 - ($5,074) - $910,075
Jun 25–27 - $54,136 - -3.0% - 18 - ($3,007) - $1,009,711
Jul 2–5 - $66,340 - +22.5% - 13 - ($5,103) - $1,117,672
Jul 9–11 - $50,426 - 13 - ($3,878) - $1,214,366
Jul 16–18 - $56,524 - +12.1% - 14 - ($4,037) - $1,309,414
Jul 23–25 - $56,672 - +0.3% - 14 - ($4,048) - $1,409,575
Jul 30–Aug 1 - $58,617 - +3.4% - 15 - ($3,907) - $1,545,857
Aug 6–8 - $77,068 - +31.5% - 20 - ($3,853) - $1,671,277
Aug 13–15 - $140,095 - +81.8% - 32 - ($4,377) - $1,875,993
Aug 20–22 - $184,152 - +31.4% - 37 - ($4,977) - $2,165,576
Aug 27–29 - $200,480 - +8.9% - 40 - ($5,012) - $2,488,255
Sep 3–5 - $219,800 - +9.6% - 43 - ($5,111) - $2,825,954
Sep 10–12 - $309,209 - +40.7% - 71 - ($4,355) - $3,297,291
Sep 17–19 - $339,222 - +9.7% - 88 - ($3,854) - $3,807,383
Sep 24–26 - $377,227 - +11.2% - 114 - ($3,309) - $4,366,072
Oct 1–3 - $390,278 - +3.5% - 122 - ($3,199) - $4,956,604
Oct 8–10 - $366,184 - -6.2% - 131 - ($2,795) - $5,529,207
Oct 15–17 - $368,134 - +0.5% - 132 - ($2,788) - $6,103,766
Oct 22–24 - $385,359 - +4.7% - 146 - ($2,639) - $6,685,825
Oct 29–31 - $287,547 - -25.4% - 144 - ($1,996) - $7,182,849
Nov 5–7 - $312,611 - +8.7% - 143 - ($2,186) - $7,684,477
Nov 12–14 - $300,445 - -3.9% - 129 - ($2,329) - $8,194,141
Nov 19–21 - $270,059 - -10.1% - 116 - ($2,328) - $8,628,352
Nov 26–28 - $255,492 - -5.4% - 107 - ($2,387) - $9,049,915


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


To me, this run is just nothing short of surprising.

agreed. i've been watching this for awhile, and am curious to see how far it will go in its run. it is without a doubt remarkable. i hope it reaches 10 million, that would be a real testament to how amazing its run has been

I am sure it'll reach $10 million within the next 4-5 weeks. I just wonder how far beyond it'll go.

I'm glad you were insightful enough to bring this film to everyone's attention, Dr. Lecter.


Not only is it one of a few films (less than a dozen) in the last two years to play for 43 weeks, it has also one of the biggest 43rd weekends of all time:


1 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial $1,049,900 / 95.80% / 708 / $1,482 / $339,839,909
2 My Big Fat Greek Wedding $1,003,360 / -34.80% / 971 / $1,033 / $239,952,321
3 The Gods Must Be Crazy $400,015 / - / 147 / $2,721 / -
4 T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (IMAX) $317,533 / 7.40% / 38 / $8,356 / $20,953,839
5 What the #$*! Do We Know?! $255,492 / -5.40% / 107 / $2,388 / $9,049,915
6 Space Station 3-D (IMAX) $178,402 / 26.90% / 43 / $4,148 / $32,139,270
7 Saving Private Ryan $143,582 / -21.20% / 319 / $450 / $215,947,236
8 The Red Violin $114,683 / -19.90% / 86 / $1,333 / $7,926,723
9 Africa's Elephant Kingdom (IMAX) $108,650 / - / 12 / $9,054 / $5,262,439
10 Galapagos (IMAX) $101,713 / -23.00% / 9 / $11,301 / $6,641,989
11 Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (IMAX) $101,578 / -8.80% / 18 / $5,643 / $5,740,023

Gee, you guys are good. Great discovery. So if you divide the film's 43rd weekend's gross by its total gross, it looks like What the #$*! Do We Know?! has the highest percentage ever for a film's 43rd weekend.

what the hell is What the #$*! Do We Know?! supposed to know

How the #$*! should I know?







:wink:

2 puns for the price of 1?

From what I've read it is a sort of philosophical look at quantum physics and the meaning of life.

I thought it was some stoner movie.

Ya, with the possibility of a third somewhere in-between.




It is. The poor guy just wanted to put a sophisticated twist on it.

Everyone should know this film was funded primarly by a member of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment.

http://salon.com/ent/feature/2004/09/16 ... ex_np.html

It's essentially an enticement to join a cult.

And it's not very good either (says some members of my inner circle).

that's a pretty wacky run

Have the movie ever got the highest weekend for a certain week? Like the highest 33th weekend of all time or something like that?

Yeah, that's what I've heard.

It has been the top draw at Atlanta's Landmark Arts Theater for the past eight weeks, I do know that.

Movies this film has outgrossed this year (all of which played in at least 1,000 theatres at one time) -

Saved! - the supposed other "controversial" Christian film that was suppose to do so well. Note - only played in 592 theatres.
Suspect Zero - Ben Kingsley, we hardly knew ya!
Connie and Carla - My Big Fat Box Office Flop.
Thunderbirds - apparently puppets are more appealing than real people.
Teacher's Pet - Not every TV children's series can be a movie.
The Big Bounce - Morgan Freeman and Owen Wilson in the "The Sting Goes To The Beach" what could go wrong?
Against The Ropes - Boy, that Meg Ryan can sure carry a picture.
Never Die Alone - Apparently, anyone who saw this film was alone.
Club Dread - You are an official member if you saw this Bill Paxton fiasco.

Additionally, it will soon surpass First Daughter and Super Babies: Baby Geniuses 2

Yeah...all these benemoths and masterpieces of filmmaking

Oh no, not even close to being number one.


Beginning with weekend 1, the films that are #1 per weekend each weekend are:

Titanic Wknd 4-18

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Wknd 19-33

Forrest Gump Wknd 34-36

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Wknd 37-38

Forrest Gump Wknd 39

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Wknd 40-42

E.T. 43-47

Gladiator 48

E.T. 49-52


Note: Gladiator had an expansion; MBFGW expanded continuously for a year, which is the only reason why its #1 for so long. Disgusting.


Also, this is for post-1982 films; I am positive that Jaws and SW would be tops somewhere here, like Wknd 37, where SW I think made $10m...

Maybe it still has a chance, though. Its run has been so unpredictable so far that everything is possible.

Well, Wknd 51 of ET is $1.7M, so it better get crancking

But I think there are some sub-$1m wknd, but not by much.

If the film does not pass $800K during any of its weekends, it does not have a chance at all.

Not even for its 100th weekend?

There are no charts for that. It would probably be the only film there, with maybe some IMAX ones around.


Honestly, I'd say after weekend 52, its sketchy, because so many old films had very long runs, remaining in theatres for years.

Did SW ever actually leave theatres before 1980?

But this is not to take anything away from this film; it's performance is very impressive.

For me, however, Titanic and E.T.'s runs are by far the best of the 1980s/1990s/2000s.

I don't consider Star Wars' or E.T.'s runs as impressive as Titanic's or MBFGW's as a matter of fact. Those movies were just released with such a minimal competition. Frontloadness basically didn't exist back then in the time when these movies were released and "event movies" topped the charst for weeks and weeks. Now we have "event movies " every other week and it is really hard to maintain such amazingly good legs.

Its PTA dropped 40% this weekend to $1,415. Still it increased one position to No. 21.