The Simpsons Blows Past Industry Expectations

Most analysts had expected The Simpsons Movie to open around $45 million. But when it earned $30 million on Friday night alone, it was pretty clear that it was going to do make way more than that. The $71.9 million it took in makes it the third highest opening weekend ever for an animated film, behind the last two Shrek installments. To put this in perspective, The Simpsons had a bigger opening than Pixar's The Incredibles ($70.5 million) and Finding Nemo ($70.2). And it was rated PG-13 (most animated flicks are usually rated G or PG).

The movie, which, according to Fox, cost less than $75 million to make, also opened strong abroad, pulling in $168 million worldwide from 73 countries, more than Transformers and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix combined. The bottom line is that Fox did everything right when opening this movie. And it was hardly a slam dunk, considering that fact that the show is still on Fox, run heavily in syndication and ratings for the series have flagged in recent years. But Fox's creative marketing campaign had to play a large part (hell, I even thought the Burger King spots with Krusty were funny). Positive reviews from both critics and fans helped as well (auds were evenly split among males and females and fans younger/older than 25, and survey audiences rated it an "A minus" on average). "You have a multi-generational effect" 20th Century Fox senior VP of domestic distribution Chris Aronson said in Variety. "That's what hit a nerve." Here's what Variety says The Simpsons Movie means to the overall summer box office:

"Simpsons" further fueled an unusually healthy July box office. Domestic box office for the top 10 pics was up a whopping 52% to $165.7 million, according to Rentrak, vs. $108.8 million in the same frame last year, when "Miami Vice" led the pack. Boost is reflected in the fact that most top holdovers saw declines of less than 45%, indicating moviegoers remain happy with their menu of choices.

'Simpsons Movie' opening beats expectations [LA Times]
'Simpsons' draws $72 million for Fox [Variety]

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, Marge Simpson (center, voice: Julie Kavner), Homer Simpson (back, right of center, voice: Dan Castellaneta), Lisa Simpson (front, second from left, voice: Yeardley Smith), Maggie Simpson (in wheelbarrow), Bart Simpson (right, voice: Nancy Cartwright), 2007. TM & copyright 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved courtesy Everett Collection