Twentieth Century Fox - Ms Wigley

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the chipmunks was based on the animated series of the same name. It was directed by Tim Hill, distributed by 20th Century Fox and produced by Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions. Critics panned the film as one of the worst films of the year but was a major financial success: on a budget of $55-$60 million, it made $217 million in North America and $361 million at the box office worldwide, and was the seventh-best selling DVD of 2008, earning over $101 million.

Box Office:

Alvin and the Chipmunks was released in North America on December 14, 2007. Despite negative reviews, the film grossed $44,307,417 in 3,475 theaters its opening weekend averaging to about $12,750 per venue, and placing second at the box office behind I Am Legend, with nearly sold out showings. According to Box Office Guru, the first weekend was twice as much as Fox originally expected. Its second weekend was $28,179,556, behind National Treasure: Book of Secrets and I Am Legend. On its third weekend, it surpassed I Am Legend for #2 at the box office, still behind National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

The film closed on Thursday June 5, 2008, making $217,326,974 domestically and $144,004,149 overseas for a total of $361,331,123 worldwide, making it a huge commercial success considering the film's modest $55 million budget. The sustained box-office success of the film surprised 20th Century Fox; Elizabeth Gabler of Fox 2000 told the Los Angeles Times "I look at the numbers every day, and we just laugh." Given its budget, Alvin was far more profitable than either I Am Legend or National Treasure: Book of Secrets. According to MTV, it also became the highest-grossing talking animal/live-action cartoon adaptation until its sequel. It is also 20th Century Fox's highest grossing film domestically to be released in 2007.

Merchandise:

The soundtrack was released November 20, 2007, three weeks before the film's opening and contains new versions of old songs such as "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late)" (as made famous by David Seville and The Chipmunks), cover versions of songs such as "Bad Day" (as made famous by Daniel Powter) and "Funkytown" (as made famous by Lipps Inc.) and new songs such as "Coast 2 Coast", "Get You Goin'" and "Get Munk'd". The second track on the album is "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", a remake version, without Jason Lee as the voice of Dave. However, the seventh track, the rock version of the song features Jason Lee as the voice of Dave.

The video game for this film was released December 4, 2007 for the Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and the PC, just ten days before the film was released. It was written and produced by DeeTown Entertainment.

A sequel was released on December 23, 2009 in the USA, December 21 in the UK and was also released on December 26 in Australia. With the exception of Cameron Richardson and Jane Lynch, all of the primary cast members returned for the sequel and the film also re-introduced the Chipettes.

To help promote the movie, merchandisers have developed a wide array of items, memorabilia, clothing, and more that appeals to many different age groups. Originally, Alvin and the Chipmunks was a cartoon targeted at entertaining children. Aware of adult interest, nostalgia, and collectors, many merchandise items have been geared toward an older audience. Here are some examples: 

Merchandise for Children

§ Plush chipmunk dolls and beanie dolls

§ Nintendo Wii and DS games

§ Coloring and activity books

§ Storybooks

§ Music albums (the movie soundtrack was released on December 1, 2009)

§ Mcdonalds Happy Meal toys

Merchandise for Adults

§ Bobbleheads

§ Posters

§ DVDs and BluRays (both movie formats released in March of 2010)

§Wall Calendars