Dec 17 2008 'Mamma Mia!' is UK's Favorite Movie Ever

Every week, when I report on the weekend's domestic box office totals, I'm totally excluding all the readers from other countries. Sorry about that. The web is worldwide now, and I'm not respecting that. So this week, let me give you readers in the UK box office update: you've all been taking off work to see Mamma Mia! so often that it's become the UK's highest grossing movie ever. From Yahoo (thanks to Adam):

The unflagging cheerfulness of ABBA conquered the red-hot chemistry between Leo and Kate this week as Mamma Mia! nudged aside the 11-time Oscar winner as the top-grossing film of all time at the U.K. box office.

The light 'n fluffy musical, en route to earning $571.7 million worldwide, has taken in $107.7 million across the pond after 22 weeks in theaters. Titanic held the record for 10 years after bagging 69 million pounds (about $107.5 million in today's currency) in 1998.

"Mamma Mia! is pure escapism, proving a fun and inexpensive way to forget about the state of the economy for a couple of hours," Universal Pictures International president David Kosse said Tuesday, calling the film a "true phenomenon."
DVD sales also went through the roof, with the jaunty romantic comedy sellling 1.7 million copies its first day out.

Wait, does this mean it passed Titanic in box office sales weeks after it came out on DVD? Why would that be? That seems insane.

"Hon, I know we've got the DVD, and we just watched it again last night, but--"

"YES!"

Can anyone from the UK explain this phenomenon? Is it like Rocky Horror, with midnight screenings and people dressed up as Meryl Streep? The best explanation I can come up with is that maybe it's older person's the equivalent of how anything referencing the '80s is popular on the internet--like some people are just excited they recognize ABBA songs, which is a terrifying thought.

Aug 4 2008 People Still Paying to See Batman Movie

Here are this weekend's box office results. Please copy all pertinent information to your journals at home.

1. The Dark Knight - A $43.8 million weekend pushed the film's total gross to just under $400 million, putting it in a likely position to push past the $461 million-grossing Star Wars as the film the most nerds have jacked off to.

2. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Desire to see Brendan Fraser and his fake hair shoot mummies is down 33% from seven years ago, with this latest chapter only bringing in $42.5 million. Either our economy is that much worse or our society is that much better.

3. Step Brothers - $16.3 million, making it the highest grossing Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly-as-retards comedy until the next one.

4. Mamma Mia! - Your mom keeps going back to see this over and over, earning it another $13.1 million.

5. Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D - $6.9 million. Note that this is the second Brendan Fraser movie in this list. Why is this happening?

Weekend Box Office [Box Office Mojo]

Jul 21 2008 'Dark Knight' Deemed Best Movie Ever by Internet Populace, Money

Weekend box office figures, you lucky dogs!

1. The Dark Knight - Apparently some sort of Batman thing opened this weekend, and it made $155.3 million, breaking every record for everything. Also, according to the distinctive group known as "people with the internet," it's the best movie ever made.

2. Mamma Mia! - $27.6 million, because your mom saw it.

3. Hancock - Some people refuse to believe anyone but Will Smith could be mankind's hero. These people saw Hancock, earning it $14 million.

4. Journey to the Center of the Earth - $11.9 million, because your illegitimate child saw it.

5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army - $10 million. Bad month to come out, everything that isn't Batman.

Weekend Box Office [Box Office Mojo]

Jan 17 2008 AM Poster Post: The Fake Plot to 'Mamma Mia!'

In Mamma Mia!, Meryl Streep steals a sorcerer's (Pierce Brosnan) magic boa, the only flamboyant accessory capable of time travel. When it's waved in the air, half of an antiqued wooden portal is opened, allowing Meryl to see into her past. Unfortunately, a rift in the space-time continuum ends up dividing Sweden from pop music, sending the members of ABBA into various alternate futures. Can Meryl get the group back together before pop music's history is irreversibly destroyed? (You can tell this will happen because the cover keeps fading from the ABBA record Meryl carries around, like with the photo in Back to the Future.)

Mamma Mia! One-Sheet [CanMag]