It wasn’t exactly happily ever after at the box office for Dimension Films and its big-budget, Terry Gilliam-directed fantasy pic, The Brothers Grimm. The $80 million period piece was one casualty of an all-around lackluster weekend, earning an estimated $15 million to come in at second place. Meanwhile, Universal’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin managed to stay on top with around $16.4 million.
Grimm did far better than its genre competition, Sony Screen Gems’ CG-laden monster mash, The Cave. Scaring up an estimated $6.2 million, the subterranean screamer debuted at No. 6 behind seven-week holdover The Wedding Crashers, a romantic comedy from New Line Cinema. Third and fourth place were claimed by DreamWorks’ airborne thriller, Red Eye, with around $10.4 million, and Paramount’s urban revenge tale, Four Brothers, with an estimated $7.8 million.
The Brothers Grimm features visual effects created by Artem Ltd. and Peerless under visual effects supervisor Kent Houston, who previously helmed vfx work on Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Twelve Monkeys. Digital effects on The Cave were handled by Luma Pictures and visual effects supervisor James McQuaide (Underworld, Underworld: Evolution).
Disney’s animated release, Valiant slipped 43% in its sophomore week, descending to No. 8 with an estimated $3.3 million and a two-week total of around $11.5 million. Produced by Vanguard Animation in the U.K. for a reported $35 million, the film should recoup production costs in worldwide theatrical before turning a tidy profit on home video. Still, the film’s performance is a wake-up call to anyone thinking CG animation is a lightning rod for box-office success.
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