The movie musical has returned with a vengeance to demonstrate box office clout and critical acclaim in the last half decade. Although there have been some obvious misfires (The Producers and Phantom of the Opera), there have also been several big successes (like Chicago, Dreamgirls and Hairspray).
The current Summer movie season featured the release of the ABBA inspired musical Mamma Mia on film three weekends ago. Interestingly, Mamma Mia was released on the same weekend this year as Hairspray was last Summer. I have been following the box office results for Mamma Mia and benchmarking against Hairspray closely. Mamma Mia narrowly edged Hairspray in their first weekend of release but Mamma Mia has been trending out higher ever since.
Here is a weekend by weekend North American box office tally of the two musicals head to head (in millions)
Mamma Hairspray
Mia
Weekend 1 $27.751 $27.477
Weekend 2 $16.747 $15.9
Weekend 3 $12.617 $ 9.225
Cumulatively, Mamma Mia has made $89.6 million year-to-date compared to $118.9 million for Hairspray. Mamma Mia is almost certain to break thru the $100 million threshold well before Labour Day
Mamma Mia is the far bigger success internationally, having already made $230 million to Hairspray's $201 million overseas. (When you combine Sweden with the Greek Isles, its hard for Cleveland to compete!)
Meanwhile, in other box office news, The Dark Knight has accumulated $400 million at the North American box office in a mere 18 days (smashing Shrek II's record pace).
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