Final Thoughts/Box-Office Prediction
“King Kong” has a lot of advantages. Peter Jackson’s name should easily bring in fans. Fans of the original film (or King Kong in general) should also come in large numbers. The month of December should give “King Kong” a very good multiplier, unlike the summer, where it would have been very frontloaded. The strong marketing should pay off for Universal, and if the theater count is right, “King Kong” will have nothing to worry about except competition from “Narnia,” “Fun with Dick and Jane,” and a few other films.
Expectations are high for “King Kong” to save the box-office, and it does seem like “Kong” can do it. Given the amount of hype, the Wednesday release, and the fact that “Kong” should be frontloaded, a PTA close to “Fantastic Four” and “War of the Worlds” from earlier this year seem likely for the 3-day weekend. This PTA would also be a little higher than “The Fellowship of the Ring,” but the general hype seems to be much bigger. “King Kong” should be able to accumulate around $35 million from Wednesday and Thursday alone. The 3-day weekend should be in the range of $55-60 million, and with the addition gross, the 5-day figure should be around $90-95 million. “Return of the King,” the most frontloaded of the “Lord of the Rings” series, made 33% of its total gross on its opening five-day weekend. Including the competition and assuming that “Kong” is more frontloaded, the total gross for “Kong” should be in the range of $240-260 million.
The low range for “King Kong” would be around $45-50 million for the 3-day weekend, $75-80 million for the 5-day, and around $210-230 million total. The high range would be around $65-70 million for the 3-day, $100-110 million for the 5-day, and $260-280 million total. There’s a good possibility that “King Kong” will surpass $300 million total, but it will need some fantastic word-of-mouth to accomplish this. It’s not out of the question, though.
Final Prediction
Opening Weekend: $55 million (3-day) / $90 million (5-day)