Not So Many Happy Returns,But Could Prada Have Legs?

By Ron Hogan on July 10, 2006 8:10 AM

The big story at the multiplexes this weekend, of course, was Pirates of the Caribbean, but it might be worth noting that ticket sales for the runner-up, Superman Returns, fell by just over 58% in its second weekend. And here’s another blow for the Man of Steel: While the long-awaited sequel/rebooting averaged a little under $13,000 per screen on its debut weekend, the limited release this Friday of A Scanner Darkly, the equally anticipated adapation of the Philip K. Dick novel, averaged about $23,900…on just 17 screens (or 4,048 fewer screens than Returns). Two things to consider, though: With so few showings, the per-screen average would naturally be boosted by audiences’ limited options, and Warner Bros. wins no matter how you look at it that doesn’t involve Disney

But let’s not forget, too, that ticket sales for The Devil Wears Prada only went down 43% this weekend. Why’s that significant? Well, as chick lit author Josie Brown remarked after we solicited comments from other writers, “Now perhaps more contemporary, funny women’s stories will be considered as viable source material for Hollywood,” something many writers were worried about after the adaptation of Jennifer Weiner’s In Her Shoes performed below expectations last fall. Bottom line, according to Brown? “Women go to the movies, and want to see their own stories reflected on the screen.” Which should bode well for projects like the planned adaptation of Darcy Cosper’s Wedding Season as a Nicole Kidman vehicle, or Reese Witherspoon’s pickup of A. M. Homes’s This Book Could Save Your Life…