Borat Sagdiyev is the newest American success story.
It's not just that Borat, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's feature-length take on his Kazakhstani alter ego, packed behinds into theaters—and it did. It's not just that Borat made back its budget in a matter of three days—and it did. And it's not just that Borat delivered on its Internet buzz the way Snakes on a Plane didn't.
It's that Borat did everything. Everything right.
The $18 million gonzo comedy averaged a phenomenal $31,607 on its 837 screens, for an overall haul of $26.5 million—easily tops for the weekend, according to studio tallies Monday from Exhibitor Relations.
"This was the case where the movie was bigger than the hype, instead of the hype being bigger than the movie," said Exhibitor Relations' Paul Dergarabedian.
On its way to the bank, Borat bypassed several Hollywood heavyweights, including a studio franchise, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (second place, $19.5 million); the latest talking animal movie, Flushed Away (third place, $18.8 million); and last weekend's defending champ, Saw III (fourth place, $14.8 million).
Among more offbeat art-house fare, Borat also was the one to beat. And indeed, it proved better at filling theaters than any film save for Penélope Cruz's new Oscar vehicle, Volver, which averaged $39,540 on five screens, for a take of $197,703 overall.
Borat's big-time debut comes after Fox scaled back the comedy's opening weekend from 2,000-plus screens to 800-plus screens. At the time, the studio said the move was based on polling that showed moviegoers' awareness of the film was "soft."
Based on a character first seen in Cohen's HBO series, Da Ali G Show, Borat (full title: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan) played well on the festival circuit and lacked not for buzz.
But Snakes on a Plane didn't lack for buzz, either. And all its Net-fueled hype got the R-rated horror flick in its opening weekend last August was a so-so $13.8 million. Its per-screen average was just as unimpressive. Compared to Borat, in fact, it was a measly $3,883.
Among movies opening on between 800-900 screens, Borat raked in more money than any film ever, according to Exhibitor Relations stats. The previous number one was 2004's documentary hit Fahrenheit 9/11, which debuted with $23.9 million.
Next weekend, Borat moves onto more screens—and Dergarabedian, for one, expects more money to follow.
"This isn't just a flash in the pan, because the movie really is generating word of mouth," Dergarabedian said.
Borat's remarkable numbers aside, the overall weekend box office was down 5 percent from a year ago, when Chicken Little set the pace with $40 million.
While Flushed Away couldn't keep up with Chicken Little, it did hold its own with past movies from the Aardman Animations stable: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ($16 million in its opening weekend in 2005); and Chicken Run ($17.5 million in 2000).
The Santa Clause 3, marking Tim Allen's third turn in the fat suit, held its own with the original Santa Clause, which debuted with $19.3 million, albeit in 1994, when the average ticket price was only $4.08 compared to $6.61 today. A better read on the fall of the Clause franchise comes from The Santa Clause 2, which won its opening weekend with $29 million in 2002.
Elsewhere, Martin Scorsese's The Departed (fifth place, $7.7 million) crossed the $100 million mark, while Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers (seventh place, $4.4 million) struggled to cross the $26 million mark.
The Queen, Helen Mirren's Oscar bid, added 235 screens, grossed $2.9 million ($10 million overall) and moved into the Top 10 for the first time.
Falling out of the Top 10 were Flicka, which dropped to 11th with $2.7 million ($17.6 million overall); Marie Antoinette, which slipped to 12th with $2.2 million ($12.9 million overall); and The Grudge 2, which disappeared into the teens with $1.6 million (a disappointing $38.3 million overall).
Here's a rundown of the top-grossing films, according to final studio figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. Borat, $26.3 million
2. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, $19.5 million
3. Flushed Away, $18.8 million
4. Saw III, $14.8 million
5. The Departed, $7.7 million
6. The Prestige, $7.5 million
7. Flags of Our Fathers, $4.4 million
8. Man of the Year, $3.7 million
9. Open Season, $3 million
10. The Queen, $2.9 million