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Barnyard clings to top 10

weekend box office from an animated perspective

Sep 13, 2006

Barnyard hangs on to the 10 spot for dear life as we run down the animated box office.

Call it the film that refuses to die. Barnyard is still clinging to the tail end of the Top 10. Not that last weekend was that exciting: not even the #1 flick took less than $10 million at the box office. You have to remember also, that this is the studios' "dump period," the place where they release the films that they have no confidence in. Which is why you have less-than-stellar fare like The Covenant, and that appalling remake of Wicker Man, in the chart.

In the midst of this mediocrity, Barnyard is still hanging on at the bottom rung of the Top 10, adding another $2,715,092 to its box office total. After that, you have to look to the #20 spot, where Cars still keeps picking up a bit here, some $478,322 there. Barnyard's midsummer competition is tumbling down the chart: Monster House is still shy of making back its $75 million investment, while The Ant Bully has become a real casualty of the Animation War. Hopefully both films will recoup from DVD sales.

Speaking of casualties, Fox's Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties may be huge in China, but it's still tanking in North America. That film only pulled down a measly $18,214. Fox didn't release how much this movie cost, but if we say $35 million (the same price as The Devil Wears Prada, and $2 million more than Snakes on a Plane), then Garfield is still in hock to the studio.

This coming Friday will see the theatrical debut of Everyone's Hero, the "heartwarming" story of a boy and a bat. And on September 29, there's Open Season, the heartwarming story of a bear trying not to eat a mule deer.

Here's the full list:

10) Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (Paramount) : $2,715,092 ($67,014,342 over 6 weeks)

20) Cars (B.V.): $478,322 ($242,618,740 over 14 weeks)

24) Monster House (Sony): $451,667 ($71,423,510 over 8 weeks)

26) The Ant Bully (W.B.): $290,781 ($27,056,454 over 7 weeks)

57) A Scanner Darkly (Warner Independent): $33,340 ($5,414,097 over 10 weeks)

65) Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (Fox): $18,214 ($28,382,443 over 13 weeks)

The copyright of the article Barnyard clings to top 10 in Animated Films is owned by Dominic von Riedemann. Permission to republish Barnyard clings to top 10 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.