The Weekend Gross

Sad Farewell...

2009-11-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like my run as the box office guy at Einsiders.com has finally come to an end. Sorry for the sudden shut down, but things beyond my control mean that the column can no longer continue in a timely fashion. I appreciate all of your support over the years and wish everyone the best!

Sincerely,

Stephen Wong

The numbers, October 30-Nov. 1, 2009

2009-11-01T22:41:00.000-08:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	This Is It	$21,300,000	3,481	$6,119	$32,509,000	--	1	Sony
2	Paranormal Activity	$16,540,000	2,404	$6,880	$84,780,000	-21.6	6	Paramount
3	Law Abiding Citizen	$7,303,000	2,764	$2,642	$51,385,000	-41.1	3	Overture
4	Couples Retreat	$6,097,000	3,026	$2,015	$86,663,000	-42.6	4	Universal
5	Saw VI	$5,560,000	3,036	$1,831	$22,824,000	-60.6	2	Lionsgate
6	Where the Wild Things Are	$5,081,000	3,645	$1,394	$61,800,000	-63.8	3	Warner Bros.
7	The Stepfather	$3,400,000	2,346	$1,449	$24,748,000	-45.4	3	Sony
8	Astro Boy	$3,035,000	3,020	$1,005	$10,891,000	-54.7	2	Summit
8	Amelia	$3,000,000	1,070	$2,804	$8,306,000	-23.2	2	Fox Searchlight
10	Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant	$2,809,000	2,754	$1,020	$10,521,000	-55.4	2	Universal

'Paranormal Activity' scares up huge third weekend with $22m, October 23-25, 2009

2009-10-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

How much can $11,000 buy you at the box office? Apparently one of the biggest horror-thriller revelations in history, as Paramount's indie smash Paranormal Activity continues to take the box office by storm, climbing to the top of the charts for the first time in its five week run. Clearly suffering in its wake was Lionsgate's torture porn sequel Saw VI, which debuted with the worst opening in franchise history in second place.

Continuing to build momentum in its fifth week of release was Paramount's mind-bogglingly cheap thriller Paranormal Activity, which took in another phenomenal $22 million surprisingly taking the top spot over Saw VI. Expanding from 763 to 1,945 theaters, the film saw a 12% rise in sales from last weekend, bringing its five week cume to $62.5 million. With Halloween weekend still ahead of it, it's conceivable that the R-rated release could have enough legs, thanks to tremendous word of mouth, to cross $100 million, making it one of the most profitable film ventures in cinema history.

The film hurt the most from the fantastic hold of Paranormal Activity was Lionsgate's bread-and-butter horror franchise Saw VI, which opened to $14.8 million, by far the worst opening in the lucrative series. With the last four films all earning at least $30 million (the original Saw bowed with $18.1 million), Saw VI's numbers were certainly troubling for the studio. Averaging an unimpressive $4,874 from 3,036 theaters, the $11 million budgeted pic will more than likely become the lowest grossing in the entire franchise.

The numbers, October 23-25, 2009

2009-10-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Paranormal Activity	$22,000,000	1,945	$11,311	$62,477,000	12.1	5	Paramount
2	Saw VI	$14,797,000	3,036	$4,874	$14,797,000	--	1	Lionsgate
3	Where the Wild Things Are	$14,420,000	3,735	$3,861	$53,960,000	-55.9	2	Warner Bros.
4	Law Abiding Citizen	$12,713,000	2,890	$4,399	$40,318,000	-39.6	2	Overture
5	Couples Retreat	$11,097,000	3,074	$3,610	$78,213,000	-35.6	3	Universal
6	Astro Boy	$7,017,000	3,014	$2,328	$7,017,000	--	1	Summit
7	The Stepfather	$6,500,000	2,734	$2,377	$20,352,000	-43.9	2	Sony
8	Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant	$6,348,000	2,754	$2,305	$6,348,000	--	1	Universal
9	Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs	$5,600,000	2,741	$2,043	$115,204,000	-30.2	6	Sony
10	Zombieland	$4,300,000	2,447	$1,757	$67,308,000	-43.5	4	Sony

'Where the Wild Things Are' dazzles with $32.4m bow, Oct. 16-18, 2009

2009-10-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

While Warner cruised easily to a No. 1 opening this weekend with their surprisingly dark kids film for adults Where the Wild Things Are, it was a 155% jump in ticket sales from the indie scare pic Paranormal Activity that might have raised even more eyebrows, as the film rocketed to $20.1 million in its sophomore frame thanks to the addition of 600 theaters. Overture Pictures' thriller Law Abiding Citizen finished strong in second with $21.2 million. Cumulatively, the top 20 releases combined for the biggest October weekend in history.

Thanks to an intriguing marketing campaign that seemed more intended for an adult audience, one of the most cherished children's books of all-time saw its film adaptation post the biggest October weekend in history with $32.4 million. Directed by Spike Jonze, the well-reviewed PG-rated pic took in an impressive $8,693 in 3,735 theaters, giving Warner the eighth biggest October bow ever.

Reviews, while mostly positive, all noted the dark nature of the film, and Friday to Saturday numbers show that the film might be having trouble attracting the family market. After a $12.1 million Friday bow, the film increased just 2% on Saturday, a shallow increase compared to other family-friendly fare. Budgeted at $75 million, Warner is hoping the film will be able to appeal to more than just the 20 to 30-something hipsters and into the broader market at large in the coming weeks.

Gerard Butler's revenge pic Law Abiding Citizen finished strong in second with $21.3 million, averaging a solid $7,353 in 2,890 theaters. The R-rated pic opened close to Liam Neeson's sleeper smash Taken, which debuted with $24.7 million on its way to $145 million total. Don't expect that kind of longevity from Citizen though, which was poorly received by critics and will have plenty of competition in the coming weeks.

Paramount expanded its sleeper horror hit Paranormal Activity by 600 theaters, and it helped push the film up 155% from its debut, finishing the weekend with $20.2 million. The R-rated scarefest averaged a whopping $26,530 per theater, showing signs that word of mouth has been extremely strong. Made on an incredible $11,000 budget, the films domestic cume now stands at $33.7 million, and still has the lucrative Halloween weekend ahead of it. Look for the film to flirt with $75 million domestic.

Last week's No. 1 fell three spots to No. 4, as Universal's poorly-reviewed comedy Couples Retreat slipped 48% to $17.9 million. In ten days the $70 million budgeted pic has grossed $63.3 million, and should barely surpass $100 million by the end of its run.

Sony Screen Gem's horror pic The Stepfather debuted with $12.3 million in fifth place, averaging $4,499 in 2,734 theaters. Budgeted at just $19 million, the PG-13 release should have no problem breaking even domestic.

Sony's animated comedy Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs finished just behind with $8.1 million, breaking the $100 million mark in its 28th day of release. The $100m budgeted film has now amassed $108.3 million, and could hit $135 million by the end of its run.

Sony also took the next spot with its horror-comedy Zombieland, which fell 47% to $7.8 million. The $24m budgeted pic has grossed $60.8 million to date.

Extended its limited run to a third week after a successful two-week stint, Disney-Pixar's 3D double feature Toy Story & Toy Story 2 took in another $3 million, bringing its 17 day cume to an amazing $28.6 million.

Thanks to solid holdovers and a strong opening from Where the Wild Things Are, the top ten films grossed an estimated $126.9 million, up an impressive 59% from last year's comparable frame when Max Payne topped with $17.6 million.

The numbers, October 16-18, 2009

2009-10-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Where the Wild Things Are	$32,470,000	3,735	$8,693	$32,470,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
2	Law Abiding Citizen	$21,250,000	2,890	$7,353	$21,250,000	--	1	Overture
3	Paranormal Activity	$20,163,000	760	$26,530	$33,717,000	155.2	4	Paramount
4	Couples Retreat	$17,949,000	3,009	$5,965	$63,339,000	-47.7	2	Universal
5	The Stepfather	$12,300,000	2,734	$4,499	$12,300,000	--	1	Sony
6	Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs	$8,100,000	3,037	$2,667	$108,284,000	-29.7	5	Sony
7	Zombieland	$7,800,000	3,171	$2,460	$60,823,000	-47.3	3	Sony
8	Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (3D)	$3,011,000	1,489	$2,022	$28,594,000	-61.2	3	Buena Vista
9	Surrogates	$1,922,000	2,326	$826	$36,332,000	-55.0	4	Buena Vista
10	The Invention of Lying	$1,905,000	1,624	$1,173	$15,495,000	-43.0	3	Warner Bros.

The numbers, October 9-11, 2009

2009-10-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Couples Retreat	$35,340,000	3,000	$11,780	$35,340,000	--	1	Universal
2	Zombieland	$15,000,000	3,038	$4,937	$47,810,000	-39.4	2	Sony
3	Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs	$12,000,000	3,077	$3,900	$96,251,000	-24.1	4	Sony
4	Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (3D)	$7,674,000	1,752	$4,380	$22,670,000	-38.6	2	Buena Vista
5	Paranormal Activity	$7,066,000	159	$44,440	$8,280,000	--	3	Paramount
6	Surrogates	$4,115,000	2,992	$1,375	$32,573,000	-43.2	3	Buena Vista
7	The Invention of Lying	$3,370,000	1,743	$1,933	$12,327,000	-52.0	2	Warner Bros.
8	Whip It	$2,800,000	1,738	$1,611	$8,766,058	-39.8	2	Fox Searchlight
9	Capitalism: A Love Story	$2,700,000	995	$2,714	$9,095,191	-39.3	3	Overture
10	Fame	$2,556,000	3,110	$822	$20,041,762	-44.8	3	MGM

The numbers, October 2-4, 2009

2009-10-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Zombieland	$25,000,000	3,036	$8,235	$25,000,000	--	1	Sony
2	Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs	$16,700,000	2,977	$5,610	$82,392,000	-33.3	3	Sony
3	Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (3D)	$12,500,000	1,745	$7,163	$12,500,000	--	1	Buena Vista
4	The Invention of Lying	$7,350,000	1,707	$4,306	$7,350,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
5	Surrogates	$7,344,000	2,951	$2,489	$26,387,000	-50.7	2	Buena Vista
6	Whip It	$4,850,000	1,720	$2,820	$4,850,000	--	1	Fox Searchlight
6	Capitalism: A Love Story	$4,850,000	962	$5,042	$5,252,000	--	2	Overture
8	Fame	$4,754,000	3,133	$1,517	$16,634,000	-52.5	2	MGM
9	The Informant!	$3,800,000	2,425	$1,567	$26,580,000	-42.6	3	Warner Bros.
10	Love Happens	$2,777,000	1,922	$1,445	$18,910,000	-35.5	3	Universal

The numbers, Sept. 25-27, 2009

2009-09-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs	$24,600,000	3,119	$7,887	$60,036,000	-18.8	2	Sony
2	Surrogates	$15,000,000	2,951	$5,083	$15,000,000	--	1	Buena Vista
3	Fame	$10,033,000	3,096	$3,241	$10,033,000	--	1	MGM
4	The Informant!	$6,915,000	2,505	$2,760	$20,992,000	-33.9	2	Warner Bros.
5	I Can Do Bad All By Myself	$4,752,000	2,120	$2,242	$44,545,000	-51.9	3	Lionsgate
6	Pandorum	$4,408,000	2,506	$1,759	$4,408,000	--	1	Overture
7	Love Happens	$4,327,000	1,898	$2,280	$14,728,000	-46.3	2	Universal
8	Jennifer's Body	$3,500,000	2,738	$1,278	$12,306,000	-49.0	2	Fox
9	9	$2,832,000	2,025	$1,399	$27,101,000	-49.1	3	Focus
10	Inglourious Basterds	$2,722,000	1,960	$1,389	$114,460,000	-28.7	6	Weinstein Co.

The numbers, Sept. 18-20, 2009

2009-09-21T00:50:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs	$30,100,000	3,119	$9,651	$30,100,000	--	1	Sony
2	The Informant!	$10,545,000	2,505	$4,210	$10,545,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
3	I Can Do Bad All By Myself	$10,066,000	2,255	$4,464	$37,938,000	-57.1	2	Lionsgate
4	Love Happens	$8,456,000	1,898	$4,455	$8,456,000	--	1	Universal
5	Jennifer's Body	$6,800,000	2,702	$2,517	$6,800,000	--	1	Fox
6	9	$5,458,000	2,060	$2,650	$22,794,000	-49.2	2	Focus
7	Inglourious Basterds	$3,603,000	2,519	$1,430	$109,901,000	-41.3	5	Weinstein Co.
8	All About Steve	$3,400,000	2,159	$1,575	$26,678,000	-39.7	3	Fox
9	Sorority Row	$2,490,000	2,591	$961	$8,871,000	-50.8	2	Summit
10	The Final Destination	$2,375,000	1,805	$1,316	$62,392,000	-57.0	4	Warner Bros.

The numbers, Sept. 11-13, 2009

2009-09-14T01:18:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	I Can Do Bad All By Myself	$24,030,000	2,255	$10,656	$24,030,000	--	1	Lionsgate
2	9	$10,856,000	1,661	$6,536	$15,264,000	--	1	Focus
3	Inglourious Basterds	$6,546,000	3,215	$2,036	$104,309,000	-43.7	4	Weinstein Co.
4	All About Steve	$5,800,000	2,265	$2,561	$21,812,000	-48.4	2	Fox
5	The Final Destination	$5,500,000	2,732	$2,013	$58,258,000	-55.5	3	Warner Bros.
6	Sorority Row	$5,268,000	2,665	$1,977	$5,268,000	--	1	Summit
7	Whiteout	$5,100,000	2,745	$1,858	$5,100,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
8	District 9	$3,600,000	2,560	$1,406	$108,517,000	-49.1	5	Sony
9	Julie & Julia	$3,300,000	2,342	$1,409	$85,360,000	-38.0	6	Sony
10	Gamer	$3,148,000	2,502	$1,258	$16,117,000	-65.6	2	Lionsgate

'The Final Destination' closes summer season with $15.4m, Sept. 4-7, 2009

2009-09-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

The summer box office season came to an end with the horror sequel The Final Destination topping the box office for the second straight weekend. Over the extended four day Labor Day weekend the film managed $15.4 million, just edging Inglourious Basterds which finished with $15 million this weekend. Newcomers All About Steve and Gamer finished third and fourth, while Sony's sleeper smash District 9 rounded out the top five, becoming the 20th film of 2009 to break the century mark.

Topping the box office for the second week in a row was Warner's horror-thriller The Final Destination, which took in $15.4 million over the four-day weekend. In 11 days the $40 million budgeted pic has grossed $50.7 million, and should wind up with $75 million domestic.

Quetin Tarantino's WWII rampage Inglourious Basterds held onto second place with $15 million, bringing the $70 million budgeted Weinstein Co. release to an incredible $91.8 million domestic. Add to that a $95.2 million international haul, and the film's worldwide total stands at $178.5 million.

Fox's romantic comedy All About Steve with an estimated finished in third with $13.9 million, despite being universally trashed by critics. Starring Sandra Bullock and The Hangover's Bradley Cooper, the film averaged a strong $6,175 in 2,251 theaters.

Gerard Butler's actioner Gamer shrugged off similarly poor reviews to open in fourth with $11.2 million. The R-rated Lionsgate pic averaged a mediocre $4,476 in 2,502 theaters. Expect steep declines in the coming weeks.

Sony's smash hit District 9 surged past the $100 million mark this weekend with its $9 million holiday haul, becoming the 20th film of 2009 to do so. The sci-fi actioner has now grossed $103.3 million domestic, and could wind up with $140 million by the end of its run.

The numbers, Sept. 4-7, 2009

2009-09-08T00:26:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	The Final Destination	$15,445,000	3,121	$4,949	$50,654,000	-43.6	2	Warner Bros.
2	Inglourious Basterds	$15,031,000	3,358	$4,476	$95,226,000	-22.1	3	Weinstein Co.
3	All About Steve	$13,900,000	2,251	$6,175	$13,900,000	-	1	Fox
4	Gamer	$11,200,000	2,502	$4,476	$11,200,000	--	1	Lionsgate
5	District 9	$9,000,000	3,139	$2,867	$103,274,000	-12.4	4	Sony
6	Halloween 2	$7,074,000	3,088	$2,291	$27,130,000	-56.7	2	Weinstein Co.
7	Julie & Julia	$7,000,000	2,528	$2,769	$80,640,000	-0.5	5	Sony
8	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	$6,700,000	2,846	$2,354	$141,015,000	-13.2	5	Paramount
9	The Time Traveler's Wife	$5,455,000	2,803	$1,946	$55,797,000	-15.5	4	Warner Bros.
10	Extract	$5,313,000	1,611	$3,298	$5,313,000	--	1	Miramax

'Final Destination' edges 'Basterds' for top spot, August 28-30, 2009

2009-08-31T00:56:00.000-07:00

Two R-rated horror flicks battled it out against last week's champ Inglourious Basterds for the top spot this weekend, with the 3D thriller The Final Destination easily beating out all other competitors with a strong $28.3 million debut. It was the third straight weekend (and fourth in five weeks) that an R-rated pic topped the charts, following Basterds and District 9. Quentin Tarantino's Basterds slipped a better than expected 47% to $20 million, while Rob Zombie's Halloween II finished in third with a $17.3 million bow. Focus Features' comedy Taking Woodstock opened a distant ninth with $3.7 million.

Thanks to a massive ad campaign and the promise of in-your-face 3D horror thrills, audiences came out in big numbers for Warner's horror sequel The Final Destination. Budgeted at a modest $40 million, the 3-D pic took in a strong $28.3 million, averaging $9,079 in a wide 3,121 theaters. Offering the 3-D version of the film in over half of its theaters (approximately 1,700), the film's increased margins helped it post by far the biggest opening in the Final Destination franchises history, blowing by previous best Final Destination 3, which took in $19.2 million in February 2006.

Dropping 47% to second place was Quentin Tarantino's WWII pic Inglourious Basterds, taking in another strong $20 million this weekend. That brought its ten day cume to an impressive $73.8 million. Buoyed by excellent reviews and good word of mouth, the $70 million budgeted gore fest is on pace to blow past $100 million. Internationally, the Weinstein Co. produced actioner took in $19.4 million, bringing its overseas cume to $59.1 million. Universal owns the film's international rights, while the Weinstein Co. is handling domestic distribution.

Debuting in third was another Weinstein Co. film, the horror sequel Halloween II with $17.4 million. Despite the big competition in front of it, the Rob Zombie-directed pic averaged a solid $5,754 in 3,025 theaters. The debut fell well short of its 2007 predecessor Halloween, which took in $26.4 million in its debut. Reviews were poor to say the least.

Sony's acclaimed sci-fi pic District 9 slipped just 41% to fourth with $10.7 million. In just 17 days the $30 million budgeted film has grossed $90.8 million, and should have no problems surpassing $100 million by next weekend. Directed by newcomer Neil Blomkamp and starring a cast of unknowns, District 9 should go down as one of the most pleasant surprises of the summer season.

The numbers, August 28-30, 2009

2009-08-31T00:41:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	The Final Destination	$28,335,000	3,121	$9,079	$28,335,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
2	Inglourious Basterds	$20,041,000	3,165	$6,332	$73,760,000	-47.3	2	Weinstein Co.
3	Halloween 2	$17,405,000	3,025	$5,754	$17,405,000	--	1	Weinstein Co.
4	District 9	$10,700,000	3,180	$3,365	$90,813,000	-41.3	3	Sony
5	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	$8,000,000	3,467	$2,307	$132,436,000	-34.5	4	Paramount
6	Julie & Julia	$7,400,000	2,503	$2,956	$70,992,000	-15.9	4	Sony
7	The Time Traveler's Wife	$6,745,000	2,961	$2,278	$48,193,000	-30.8	3	Warner Bros.
8	Shorts	$4,870,000	3,105	$1,568	$13,565,000	-24.0	2	Warner Bros.
9	Taking Woodstock	$3,749,000	1,393	$2,691	$3,769,000	--	1	Focus
10	G-Force	$2,845,000	1,926	$1,477	$111,801,000	-30.9	6	Buena Vista

'Basterds' takes box office by storm with $37.6m, August 21-23, 2009

2009-08-24T00:55:00.001-07:00

For the second week in a row a newcomer blew past industry expectations to claim the top spot at the box office. This week it went to Quentin Tarantino and Co., as their eclectic and gory WWII pic Inglourious Basterds dominated the weekend with a whopping $37.6 million. Last week's champ District 9 slipped to second with a solid $18.9 million showing. Two other newcomers, Shorts and Post Grad finished a distant sixth and tenth place respectively.

Thanks to some huge buzz, good reviews, Brad Pitt's hefty nameplate, and a rather controversial take on the World War II genre, Quentin Taratino's Inglourious Basterds lead all film with an impressive $37.6 million debut, far beyond industry expectations in the mid-$20m range. Budgeted at $70 million, the big opening likely postponed financial ruin for the struggling Weinstein Co. for another day. Universal co-produced the film.

Averaging a huge $11,880 in 3,165 theaters, Basterds easily became director Tarantino's biggest debut ever, besting 2004's Kill Bill Vol. 2 with $25.1 million. The well-reviewed R-rated pic scored a "fresh" 87% recommendation rating from critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com, but a 10% drop from Friday to Saturday might mean larger drops in the next few weekends. Internationally, Inglourious Basterds opened in 22 markets for a $27.5 million bow, pushing its global take to $65.1 million this weekend.

Falling a better-than-expected 49% to second was the sci-fi sleeper hit District 9, which finished with $18.9 million this weekend. In ten days the $30 million budgeted Sony pic has amassed a hugely profitable $73.5 million, and looks on pace to blow past $100 million domestic. Word of mouth appears stronger than normal for a sci-fi pic of its nature, considering last year's Cloverfield saw a huge 68% drop in its sophomore frame. Despite opening slightly larger than District 9, that film finished its domestic run at $80 million.

G.I. Joe claimed the third spot with $12.5 million, dropping just 44% this weekend. In three weeks the $175m budgeted Paramount release has grossed $120.5 million, and a $150 million domestic take seems likely.

Robert Rodriguez's latest foray in the childrens genre was a dud, as Warner's Shorts managed just $6.6 million in sixth place. Averaging just $2,126 from a wide 3,105 theaters, the kidpic fell well short of 2003's Spy Kids 3D: Game Over with $33 million, and even 2005's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D with $12.5 million.

Fox's Post Grad was DOA, debuting with $2.8m in 1,959 theaters, averaging a meek $1,429. Starring Gilmore Girls' Alexis Bledel, the film was slaughtered by critics. Even worse was X Games 3D: The Movie, which managed just $800,000 in 1,399 theaters for a pathetic $572 average. The Buena Vista release opened at No. 19 this weekend.

Thanks to a better-than-expected debut from Basterds, as well as some strong holdover performances, the top ten films grossed an estimated $108 million, up 31% from last year's comparable frame when Tropic Thunder stayed on top with $16.3 million.

The numbers, August 21-23, 2009

2009-08-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Inglourious Basterds	$37,600,000	3,165	$11,880	$37,600,000	--	1	Weinstein Co.
2	District 9	$18,900,000	3,050	$6,197	$73,491,000	-49.4	2	Sony
3	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	$12,500,000	3,953	$3,162	$120,531,000	-44.0	3	Paramount
4	The Time Traveler's Wife	$10,025,000	2,988	$3,355	$37,448,000	-46.2	2	Warner Bros.
5	Julie & Julia	$9,000,000	2,463	$3,654	$59,288,000	-25.3	3	Sony
6	Shorts	$6,600,000	3,105	$2,126	$6,600,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
7	G-Force	$4,205,000	2,561	$1,642	$107,315,000	-39.2	5	Buena Vista
8	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$3,515,000	1,936	$1,816	$290,275,000	-31.6	6	Warner Bros.
9	The Ugly Truth	$2,850,000	1,971	$1,446	$82,887,000	-35.9	5	Sony
10	Post Grad	$2,800,000	1,959	$1,429	$2,800,000	--	1	Fox

'District 9' invades theaters with strong $37m debut, August 14-16, 2009

2009-08-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

Opponents of Sony's low-budget sci-fi actioner failed to keep the aliens out, as the $30 million Peter Jackson produced pic dominated the box office with a much better-than-expected $37 million weekend. The debut sent last week's champ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra tumbling 59% to second with $22.5 million, while Warner's time-bending romance The Time Traveler's Wife finished strong in third with $19.2 million.

Critics went gaga over the directorial debut of South African filmmaker and Peter Jackson protege Neill Blomkamp, whose sci-fi pic blew past industry expectations with a $37 million debut. Thanks to an intriguing viral advertising campaign, stellar reviews and great buzz coming out of this year's Comic-Con convention, the modestly budgeted $30 million alien-encounters pic overcame having a cast of complete unknowns and a very unusual storyline. Averaging a stellar $12,135 in 3,049 theaters, the R-rated pic skewed heavily male and Under 25, dominating the core audience that propelled G.I. Joe's opening weekend.

Compared with last year's Cloverfield, a similarly unconventional sci-fi release that thrived off its unusual premise, no stars, low budget, and pseudo-documentary style visuals, District 9 fell a bit short of that $40.1 million opening. That film tailed off quickly and finished its domestic run with $80 million. But if word of mouth turns out to be strong for District 9, look for the film to best Cloverfield's domestic haul.

Thanks to the arrival of District 9, last week's champ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra fell a steep 59% to $22.5 million, bringing its ten day haul to $98.8 million. Budgeted at a hefty $175 million, the Paramount/Hasbro release will most likely fall short of its budget by the end of its domestic run.

Warner's counter-programming play succeeded for third as their romance The Time Traveler's Wife opened with $19.2 million. Averaging $6,427 in 2,988 theaters, the Rachel McAdams-Eric Bana flick shrugged off poor reviews and saw a 17% drop in sales from Friday to Saturday, indicate lukewarm word of mouth.

Conversely, Meryl Streep's Julie & Julia fell just 38% to $12.4 million in fourth. Budgeted at just $38 million, the Sony release has grossed $43.7 million in ten days.

Debuting poorly in sixth was the R-rated comedy The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, which took in $5.4 million in 1,838 theaters for a $2,911 average. Starring Entourage's Jeremy Piven, the film was slaughtered by critics.

Debuting in ninth with much fanfare from critics but not much love from audiences was Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki's latest film Ponyo, which took in just $3.5 million in 927 theaters. Averaging a modest $3,782 per theater, the film is just the latest in a line of critically-acclaimed and internationally popular Miyazaki releases that failed to find an audience in the U.S.

Thanks to a better-than-expected debut from District 9, the top ten films grossed an estimated $119.5 million, up 12% from last year's comparable frame when Tropic Thunder topped with $25.8 million.

The numbers, August 14-16, 2009

2009-08-16T11:57:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	District 9	$37,000,000	3,049	$12,135	$37,000,000	--	1	Sony
2	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	$22,500,000	4,007	$5,615	$98,753,000	-58.9	2	Paramount
3	The Time Traveler's Wife	$19,205,000	2,988	$6,427	$19,205,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
4	Julie & Julia	$12,400,000	2,354	$5,268	$43,684,000	-38.1	2	Sony
5	G-Force	$6,908,000	3,065	$2,254	$99,049,000	-30.0	4	Buena Vista
6	The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard	$5,350,000	1,838	$2,911	$5,350,000	--	1	Paramount
7	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$5,155,000	2,771	$1,860	$283,893,000	-42.3	5	Warner Bros.
8	The Ugly Truth	$4,500,000	2,733	$1,647	$77,502,000	-33.3	4	Sony
9	Ponyo	$3,506,000	927	$3,782	$3,506,000	--	1	Buena Vista
10	(500) Days of Summer	$3,025,000	1,048	$2,886	$17,955,000	-19.1	5	Fox Searchlight

'G.I. Joe' posts fourth biggest August bow with $56.2m, August 7-9, 2009

2009-08-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

Against the better judgment of film critics, many of whom were kept out of pre-release screenings thanks to a cheeky move by Paramount to give bloggers and fanboy sites first crack at reviewing their latest toy-to-screen adaptation, young male moviegoers flocked heavily to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, giving the big-budget actioner the fourth largest August debut in history with $56.2 million. Meryl Streep's well-received Julie & Julia also beat expectations in second with $20.1 million.

Thanks to a massive marketing push and an ultrawide launch in 4,007 theaters across North America, Paramount's $175 million budgeted toy commercial G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra posted the fourth biggest August opening in history with $56.2 million, averaging a fantastic $14,025 per theater. Only 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.3m), 2001's Rush Hour 2 ($67.4m), and 2002's Signs ($60.1m) have opened bigger. Knowing full well the critical drubbing they took for their last toy-to-movie pic Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Paramount showed the Stephen Sommers directed pic only to a limited number of critics (mainly bloggers and critics from fanboy outlets). The stunt apparently worked, as Friday's Rottentomatoes.com score sat in the high 80% range before plummeting to 37% this weekend.

Thanks to a massive $22.3 million Friday haul, Joe handily beat expectations in the mid-$40m range. The film did see an 18% drop in sales from Friday to Saturday, an ominous sign that legs may not be there for this latest popcorn fare. With its mostly day-and-date release across the globe, G.I. Joe bowed with $44 million internationally, pushing its worldwide take this weekend to $100 million. Don't look for the pic to break even domestically.

Offering counterprogramming to the mindless action-fest that is G.I. Joe, Sony's well-reviewed Meryl Streep-Amy Adams starrer Julie & Julia opened strong in second with $20.1 million, also handily beating expectations. Launching in 2,354 theaters, the PG-13 pic averaged a healthy $8,539 per theater. While the debut didn't match last summer's musical smash Mamma Mia!, which bowed with $27.8 million, the $38 million budgeted pic saw an encouraging 17% jump in ticket sales from Friday to Saturday, indicating strong word of mouth. Look for a healthy domestic run for the film.

Falling 44% to $9.8 million was Disney's 3D actioner G-Force, which finished third once again this weekend. In three weeks the fx-laden family comedy has grossed $86.1 million. The film should have no trouble crossing $100 million by the end of its run.

Falling one spot below G-Force was Warner's blockbuster sequel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which fell 50% to $8.9 million. Despite the big drop the film is still running ahead of 2007's Order of the Phoenix, and has amassed $273.8 million in four weeks of release. Budgeted at a massive $250 million, the film has an excellent shot at breaking $300 million domestic to become the second highest grossing film of 2009. Internationally the film took in another strong $22.3 million, bringing its total to $541.8 million. That puts its worldwide total at a jaw-dropping $815.6 million and counting.

The second weekend for Judd Apatow's Funny People wasn't funny at all, as the Adam Sandler-Seth Rogen pic fell 65% to $7.9 million in fifth place. The $75 million budgeted R-rated comedy has grossed $40.4 million to date. At its current pace, the film will finish well short of Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin with $109.2 million and Knocked Up with $148.8 million.

The numbers, August 7-9, 2009

2009-08-09T21:17:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	$56,200,000	4,007	$14,025	$56,200,000	--	1	Paramount
2	Julie & Julia	$20,100,000	2,354	$8,539	$20,100,000	--	1	Sony
3	G-Force	$9,804,000	3,482	$2,816	$86,116,000	-44.0	3	Buena Vista
4	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$8,880,000	3,455	$2,570	$273,800,000	-50.4	4	Warner Bros.
5	Funny People	$7,866,000	3,008	$2,615	$40,417,000	-65.3	2	Universal
6	The Ugly Truth	$7,000,000	2,975	$2,353	$69,088,000	-46.9	3	Sony
7	A Perfect Getaway	$5,765,000	2,159	$2,670	$5,765,000	--	1	Universal
8	Aliens in the Attic	$4,000,000	3,108	$1,287	$16,293,000	-50.1	2	Fox
9	Orphan	$3,730,000	2,270	$1,643	$34,822,000	-50.4	3	Warner Bros.
9	(500) Days of Summer	$3,725,000	817	$4,559	$12,343,000	34.1	4	Fox Searchlight

'Funny People' bounces 'G-Force' for top spot with $23.4m, July 31-Aug. 2, 2009

2009-08-03T01:28:00.000-07:00

Producer extraordinaire Judd Apatow's return to directing after a two year hiatus was cause for celebration, as the producer/writer/director's latest comedy Funny People topped the weekend with an estimated $23.4 million. The film bumped last weeks' champ G-Force to third, while Warner's Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince held on to second place with $17.7 million. Fox's family film Aliens in the Attic finished in a disappointing fifth place with $7.8 million.

With comedic A-listers Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen joining forces for the first time in their respective careers, Universal's Funny People claimed the No. 1 spot this weekend with $23.4 million. The third film directed by Judd Apatow, following 2007's blockbuster Knocked Up ($30.6m opening, $148.7m total) and 2005's sleeper hit The 40-Year-Old Virgin ($21.4m, 109.4m), Funny People beat out a solid sophomore frame from G-Force and a small drop from Warner's Harry Potter.

Averaging a strong $7,795 in 3,007 theaters, the R-rated pic's internals aren't nearly as robust. The hefty $75 million budgeted release saw a 15% drop in ticket sales from Friday to Saturday, indicating tepid word of mouth. If the trend continues next weekend, the film will have a nearly impossible chance to reach $100 million domestic.

Warner's blockbuster Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince held its spot to move ahead of last week's champ G-Force, as the sequel fell less than 40% to $17.7 million. With many IMAX locations moving from Transformers 2 to Half-Blood Prince (166 in total), the $250 million budgeted pic managed to boost its domestic cume to $255.5 million. After a rocky sophomore frame that saw the film drop a stunning 62%, the film has rebounded and now looks on pace to reach $300 million. It's currently the fourth highest grossing film of 2009, behind Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Pixar's Up, and Warner's The Hangover.

Internationally, Half-Blood Prince continues to dominate, raking in another strong $42.7 million in 64 markets, bringing its overseas haul to a whopping $492.3 million. Worldwide, the sixth installment in the Harry Potter series has grossed $747.8 million.

Disney's kidpic G-Force slipped 46% to third with $17.1 million, bringing its 10-day cume to $66.5 million. At its current pace, look for the film to surpass $100 million domestic.

With Apatow's Funny People grabbing much of the date crowd this weekend, The Ugly Truth took a 53% hit in its sophomore frame, bringing in $13 million this weekend. In ten days, the Sony pic has grossed a strong $54.5 million. Starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, the $38 million budgeted romantic comedy should hit $90 million domestic by the end of its run.

Fox's kidpic debut Aliens in the Attic opened with $7.8 million, averaging a weak $2,511 in 3,106 theaters. The poorly reviewed release won't last long in the top ten.

The numbers, July 31-August 2, 2009

2009-08-03T01:22:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Funny People	$23,440,000	3,007	$7,795	$23,440,000	--	1	Universal
2	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$17,700,000	4,393	$4,029	$255,463,000	-39.9	3	Warner Bros.
3	G-Force	$17,058,000	3,697	$4,614	$66,461,000	-46.2	2	Buena Vista
4	The Ugly Truth	$13,000,000	2,882	$4,511	$54,481,000	-52.9	2	Sony
5	Aliens in the Attic	$7,800,000	3,106	$2,511	$7,800,000	--	1	Fox
6	Orphan	$7,250,000	2,750	$2,636	$26,791,000	-43.7	2	Warner Bros.
7	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	$5,300,000	2,757	$1,922	$181,843,000	-37.0	5	Fox
8	The Hangover	$5,080,000	2,071	$2,453	$255,776,000	-21.4	9	Warner Bros.
9	The Proposal	$4,848,000	2,435	$1,991	$148,882,000	-24.0	7	Buena Vista
10	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$4,600,000	2,626	$1,752	$388,101,000	-43.4	6	Paramount

'G-Force' surprisingly upends 'Harry Potter' for top spot, July 24-26, 2009

2009-07-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

It was a brief run at the top for Warner's hit sequel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as the unsuspecting wizard saga was upended by Disney's cute and cuddly G-Force after just one week in No. 1. In third was the debut of the Katherine Heigl-Gerard Butler romantic comedy The Ugly Truth, which bowed strongly despite poor reviews.

Taking advantage of 1,600 3D screens that largely came from rival Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Disney's G-Force found its way to the top spot this weekend with a strong $32.2 million. The PG-rated children's actioner surprisingly knocked off what was expected to be another No. 1 finish for Harry Potter, averaging $8,697 in 3,697 theaters. The live-action release followed successful 3D runs by animated pics Up and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, both of which took advantage of the higher ticket prices for 3D-equipped theaters. However, given the limited available of 3D screens around the country, one movie normally dominates the 3D screen theater count at the expense of another, in this case that film being Fox's Ice Age 3, which fell a steep 53% in its fourth week of release.

Falling a precipitous 62% in its second week of release, Warner's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince slipped to second with $30 million, bringing its 12-day cume to a whopping $221.8 million. Despite the huge drop, Prince is still running 7% ahead of 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix over the same time frame. Budgeted at a monstrous $250 million, the big budget sequel continued to dominate internationally, pulling in another $84.4 million. In 64 markets the film has amassed an overseas total of $405.3 million, bringing its worldwide haul to $627.1 million.

Sony's romantic comedy The Ugly Truth posted a strong $27 million in third, averaging an impressive $9,368 in 2,882 theaters. The R-rated debut bested Katherine Heigl's previous hit comedy 27 Dresses, which opened with $23 million on its way to $76.8 million in January 2008. Despite overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, the film managed to fill a significant vacuum in the marketplace for women and couples now that The Proposal is in its sixth week of release.

Opening mildly in fourth was the new horror pic Orphan, which bowed with $12.8 million in 2,750 theaters. Averaging $4,644 per theater, the R-rated thriller was butchered by critics and fell a steep 10% from Friday to Saturday, indicating soft word of mouth.

Fox's blockbuster computer-animated comedy Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs fell 53% (its largest drop to date) to $8.2 million, bringing its four week cume to $171.3 million. The film saw many of its 3D screens taken away and given to Disney's G-Force. At its current pace, the film looks on target to match or beat the finally domestic tally of its predecessor Ice Age: The Meltdown ($195.3 million). Overseas, the film has been an absolute monster, adding $40.6 million bringing its international cume to $505.4 million. In just four weeks the film has amassed $676.7 million worldwide.

Thanks to a surprisingly huge drop from Harry Potter, the top ten films fell 19% from last year's comparable frame when The Dark Knight held onto the top spot with $75.2 million.

The numbers, July 24-26, 2009

2009-07-26T23:26:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	G-Force	$32,152,000	3,697	$8,697	$32,152,000	--	1	Buena Vista
2	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$30,000,000	4,325	$6,936	$221,800,000	-61.5	2	Warner Bros.
3	The Ugly Truth	$27,000,000	2,882	$9,368	$27,000,000	--	1	Sony
4	Orphan	$12,770,000	2,750	$4,644	$12,770,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
5	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	$8,200,000	3,300	$2,485	$171,291,000	-53.3	4	Fox
6	Transformers: ROTF	$8,000,000	3,237	$2,471	$379,090,000	-41.6	5	Paramount
7	The Hangover	$6,465,000	2,285	$2,829	$247,100,000	-20.9	8	Warner Bros.
8	The Proposal	$6,423,000	2,779	$2,311	$140,086,000	-22.5	6	Buena Vista
9	Public Enemies	$4,170,000	2,291	$1,820	$88,096,000	-46.2	4	Universal
10	Brüno	$2,719,000	1,895	$1,435	$56,516,000	-67.3	3	Universal

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' posts $160m five-day bow, biggest worldwide debut in history, July 17-19, 2009

2009-07-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter mania shows no signs of abating as Warner's flagship franchise continued its incredible run at the box office, with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince posting the biggest worldwide opening of all-time. Since Wednesday, the sixth film in the Potter saga has amassed a jaw-dropping $396.6 million.

In North America the two-and-a-half hour fantasy pic ranked in $159.7 million over five days, including a record $22.2 million on Wednesday midnight screenings alone. Half-Blood Prince took in $79.5 million from Friday to Sunday, besting its immediate predecessor Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which grossed $77.1 million over its first weekend and $139.7 million over its Wednesday-Sunday frame. The biggest three-day weekend opening in the franchise still belongs to the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which took in $102.6 million in November 2005.

After pushing back the release date for this sixth film from November 2008 until now, Warner Bros.'s high stakes gamble paid off, as the studio's final caretaker for the remaining three films David Yates (Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince along with the final two films encompassing the seventh book) has delivered both a critical and financial hit. Critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com gave the film an impressive 84%.

Thanks to that record $22.2 million midnight haul Prince finished with a Wednesday take of $52.8 million. Numbers fell off significantly for the rest of the weekend, falling well-short of the $201 million five-day take of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. But if international totals remain as strong as they were for Order of the Phoenix, where nearly 70% of all ticket sales came from overseas, Prince should wind up out-pacing Transformers 2 globally when all is said and done. Phoenix amassed a whopping $938 million worldwide despite making "only" $292 million domestic. Among international markets, the United Kingdom posted by far the biggest debut, as Potter-mania produced a $32.4 million bow.

Despite Harry Potter dwarfing all other films this weekend, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs slipped just 36% to $17.7 million, bringing its 19-day cume to $152 million. The film is on pace to match or beat its predecessor Ice Age: The Meltdown, which took in $195.3 million domestic back in 2006.

Falling 43% to third was Paramount/DreamWorks' blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which took in $13.8 million this weekend. In four weeks the $200 million budgeted robot actioner has grossed $363.9 million, moving past Jurassic Park's $357 million for #13 on the all-time list. At its current pace the film looks likely to break $400 million by the end of its domestic run.

The most interesting number from the weekend but perhaps the least surprising was the disastrous sophomore frame from Sacha Baron Cohen's latest mockumentary Bruno, which tumbled 73% to $8.4 million, falling from first to fourth. His latest shock comedy proves there is a fine line between pushing the boundaries of laughter and making it feel to audiences like the joke's on them. Apparently he crossed that line. Still, the low-budget Universal comedy has grossed $49.6 million in ten days, and should have no problem breaking $60 million domestic.

The numbers, July 17-19, 2009

2009-07-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$79,475,000	4,325	$18,376	$159,662,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
2	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	$17,700,000	3,817	$4,637	$152,005,000	-35.9	3	Fox
3	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$13,750,000	3,857	$3,565	$363,867,000	-43.2	4	Paramount
4	Brüno	$8,374,000	2,759	$3,035	$49,588,000	-72.7	2	Universal
5	The Hangover	$8,315,000	2,667	$3,118	$235,882,000	-16.3	7	Warner Bros.
5	The Proposal	$8,294,000	3,043	$2,726	$128,087,000	-21.8	5	Buena Vista
7	Public Enemies	$7,593,000	3,121	$2,433	$79,484,000	-45.0	3	Universal
8	Up	$3,147,000	1,708	$1,843	$279,559,000	-33.3	8	Buena Vista
9	My Sister's Keeper	$2,825,000	1,967	$1,436	$41,504,000	-34.2	4	Warner Bros.
10	I Love You, Beth Cooper	$2,665,000	1,872	$1,424	$10,261,000	-45.8	2	Fox

'Bruno' dominates über all with $30.4m bow, June 10-12, 2009

2009-07-13T00:59:00.000-07:00

Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comedy Bruno out-poshed Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to land in the top spot this weekend, debuting with a strong $30.4 million. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the teen comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper finished weak in seventh with just $5 million. Without a blockbuster opening to headline the weekend, the top ten films slipped 5% from last year's comparable frame, and 21% from the same weekend in 2007.

Thanks to a hilarious and omnipresent marketing campaign from Universal, moviegoers packed in theaters to see everyone's favorite Austrian fashion celebrity Bruno, aka Sacha Baron Cohen, take on America. Debuting in 2,756 theaters, the film amassed $30.4 million, averaging a strong $11,040 per theater.

But despite the strong weekend Universal has reason to be concerned about those shaved legs. After an opening day haul of $14.4 million, early projections had Bruno finishing with $35-40m for the weekend. But a disastrous drop in ticket sales on Saturday by 39% to $8.8 million reset totals to $30.4 million, and potentially lower when final estimates come in on Monday.

Despite solid reviews from critics, audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a C grade, indicating word of mouth may be weak. Featuring shock gags, controversial situations and a healthy dose of full frontal on-screen male genetalia, it seems likely American audiences weren't quite prepared for a full dose of Bruno.

The debut was larger than Cohen's sleeper hit Borat, but not by much considering the 2006 film opened in just 837 theaters for a whopping $26.5 million. That works out to a $31,607 per theater average, and the film finished its domestic run with a phenomenal $128.5 million. Don't expect similar numbers from Bruno though, particularly with internal numbers showing rapidly declining market share. Internationally, Bruno took in a solid $20 million in eight overseas markets.

Maintaining its second place slot was Fox/Bluesky Studios' Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which slipped just 32% from its opening frame to $28.5 million. In 12 days the 3D computer-animated comedy has grossed $120.6 million, nearly matching the performance of its immediate predecessor Ice Age: The Meltdown. Helped by heavy runs in 3D equipped theaters, it will be interesting to see how the film will fare next weekend when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince rampages through the box office. Worldwide the film has taken in $312 million.

Falling 43% to third was last week's champ Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which after two consecutive weeks at the top of the charts finished the weekend with $24.2 million. The $200 million budgeted blockbuster has now amassed $339.2 million in 19 days, blowing past the entire domestic gross of its predecessor Transformers, which took in $319.1 million in 2007.

At its current pace, Revenge of the Fallen appears headed towards a $400+ million domestic gross. Overseas, the Michael Bay pic has amassed $364.5 million.

The numbers, July 10-12, 2009

2009-07-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Brüno	$30,426,000	2,756	$11,040	$30,426,000	--	1	Universal
2	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	$28,500,000	4,102	$6,948	$120,573,000	-31.6	2	Fox
3	Transformers: ROTF	$24,200,000	4,293	$5,637	$339,208,000	-42.8	3	Paramount
4	Public Enemies	$14,111,000	3,336	$4,230	$66,538,000	-44.2	2	Universal
5	The Proposal	$10,507,000	3,158	$3,327	$113,764,000	-18.3	4	Buena Vista
6	The Hangover	$9,930,000	3,002	$3,308	$222,442,000	-11.9	6	Warner Bros.
7	I Love You, Beth Cooper	$5,000,000	1,858	$2,691	$5,000,000	--	1	Fox
8	Up	$4,656,000	2,201	$2,115	$273,775,000	-28.6	7	Buena Vista
9	My Sister's Keeper	$4,180,000	2,444	$1,710	$35,801,000	-27.8	3	Warner Bros.
10	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	$1,600,000	1,116	$1,434	$61,494,000	-36.9	5	Sony

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' heading to blowout opening weekend

2009-07-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

MovieTickets.com is reporting over 350 sold out performances worldwide for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” including 216 midnight sellouts in the U.S. alone, according to a report Wednesday morning.

According to the site, the film currently accounts for 61 percent of ticket sales at MovieTickets.com, ahead of “Ice Age 3” (10%) and “Transformers 2” (5%).

Online ticket seller Fandango.com has also reported that Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince is outpacing Transformers 2 in advance ticket sales, representing 65% of daily ticket sales at that site. Advance ticket sales are also outpacing sales for Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix at the same point ahead of its release. That film finished its opening weekend with $77.1 and $139.7 for a five-day bow.

Meanwhile, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen just crossed the $300 million mark domestic in its 14th day of release, becoming the second fastest film to ever reach that mark behind The Dark Knight's incredible 10-day record. The $200 million budgeted sequel has amassed $600 million worldwide.

Photo finish as 'Transformers 2' edges 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' with $42.3m weekend, July 3-5, 2009

2009-07-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

After the fireworks cleared Sunday, final numbers put Paramount's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen just barely ahead of Fox's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs for the top spot with $42.3 million over the July 4th weekend. Ice Age was a close second with $41.7 million, while Universal's period gangster pic Public Enemies finished solidly in third with $25.2 million.

With July 4th falling on a Saturday (causing Friday-to-Saturday sales to fall 36% across the board), Paramount's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen fell a steep 61% to $42.3 million, bringing its 12-day cume to a monstrous $293.5 million. The Michael Bay blockbuster surpassed Pixar's Up to become the highest grossing film of 2009 and now sits at No. 31 on the all-time list, just behind 1999's The Sixth Sense.

Internationally, the $200 million budgeted robot-destruction sequel has amassed $298 million, bringing its worldwide total to $591.4 million. The original Transformers took in $319m domestic and $708m worldwide back in 2007. Look for Revenge to blow past both numbers by the end of the month.

Fox/Bluesky Studios' computer-animated 3D feature Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs hauled in $41.7 million over the weekend and $66.7 million since its opening on Wednesday, tying Transformers 2 for the No. 1 slot. Averaging $10,171 in 4,099 theaters, the film fell short of the debut of its predecessor Ice Age: The Meltdown, which bowed with $68 million (over three days) in March 2006. By comparison, Pixar's Up debuted in May to $68.1 million over three-days.

Internationally, Fox execs were uncorking the champagne as Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs hauled in $148m in 101 markets, posting the sixth biggest international launch and biggest international 3D opening in history. Adding North American totals, the sequel has now grossed an incredible $215 million worldwide. Ice Age: The Meltdown finished with $195.3 million domestic. Pixar's Up has grossed $264.9 million thus far, making the acclaimed pic the second highest grossing in Pixar history, surpassing 2004's The Incredibles with $261.4 million.

Johnny Depp's period gangster drama Public Enemies debuted in third with $25.2 million and $41 million over the five-day Wednesday-Sunday frame, averaging $7,850 in 3,334 theaters. The Universal debut was the biggest of director Michael Mann's career, surpassing both Collateral with $24.7m and Miami Vice with $25.7m.

The numbers, July 3-5, 2009

2009-07-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$42,500,000	4,234	$10,038	$293,459,000	-61.0	2	Paramount
1	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	$42,500,000	4,099	$10,368	$67,506,000	--	1	Fox
3	Public Enemies	$26,172,000	3,334	$7,850	$41,044,000	--	1	Universal
4	The Proposal	$12,779,000	3,099	$4,124	$94,233,000	-31.2	3	Buena Vista
5	The Hangover	$10,415,000	3,070	$3,393	$204,197,000	-38.8	5	Warner Bros.
6	Up	$6,579,000	2,656	$2,477	$264,873,000	-49.6	6	Buena Vista
7	My Sister's Keeper	$5,255,000	2,606	$2,017	$26,964,000	-57.8	2	Warner Bros.
8	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	$2,500,000	1,908	$1,310	$58,471,000	-54.1	4	Sony
9	Year One	$2,100,000	2,240	$938	$38,088,000	-65.1	3	Sony
9	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smith.	$2,100,000	1,419	$1,480	$167,763,000	-42.4	7	Fox

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' rakes in record $387m worldwide in debut, June 26-28, 2009

2009-06-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

Michael Bay is laughing all the way to the bank this fourth of July weekend. After taking a certified beating from critics, who gave the film a "rotten" 21% score from Rottentomatoes.com, the glitzy action auteur proved that bigger is sometimes much better. He spent more money ($200 million budget compared to $150m for its predecessor), pushed for bigger effects, and brought the running time to a head-scratching two-and-a-half hours, all to satisfy the pent up demand by audiences for a certified box office blockbuster. The result was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which took in a staggering $201.2 million over its five-day opening and $387 million worldwide, giving the sequel the largest global opening haul in history.

After pulling in $89.2 million over the Wednesday-Thursday time frame, including a record crushing $60.2 million on Wednesday alone, the Paramount/DreamWorks release amassed an incredible $112 million over the weekend, bringing its five-day total to $201.2 million. Only last summer's The Dark Knight grossed more over its first five days, bringing in $203.8 million last July. By comparison, the original Transformers bowed with $70.5 million over the July 4th weekend in 2007, pulling in $155.4 million over its first 6 days of release (it debuted on a Tuesday).

Averaging a massive $26,453 in 4,234 theaters over the weekend (including 169 IMAX screens), the Michael Bay actioner shattered the June opening weekend record set by 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with $93.7 million. It also broke the five-day record for a Wednesday opener, easily surpassing the $152.4 million haul by 2004's Spider-Man 2.

Starting on Wednesday with a record-shattering $60.6 million, the opening day haul was the second largest in history behind The Dark Knight's Friday take of $67.2 million, as well as the largest by far for a Wednesday bow. That now-annihilated record belonged to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which debuted on Wednesday with $44.2 million in 2007.

Internationally Transformers whipped up a frenzy as well, though not to the dizzying heights of its North American release. The pic took in $186 million since the beginning of the week, putting its worldwide take at $387 million. That makes Revenge of the Fallen already the second highest grossing film globally for 2009, behind only Angels & Demons with $467.7 million.

With sizable competition ahead in the form of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs coming July 4th and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arriving 11 days later, Transformers will likely see a heavy sophomore drop. But with an opening five-days like that, the film could still coast to $350 million domestic without even trying.

Sandra Bullock's hit romantic comedy The Proposal continued to fare well in its sophomore frame, falling 45% to $18.5 million, bringing its ten-day cume to $69.1 million. Released by Buena Vista and co-starring Ryan Reynolds, the $40 million budgeted pic looks headed towards $120 million domestic.

The comedy blockbuster The Hangover continued its phenomenal run at the box office, falling another slight 36% to $17.2 million. In four weeks the film has now amassed $183.2 million, and seems like a shoe-in for $250+ million domestic.

Disney-Pixar's computer-animated comedy Up is now officially the highest grossing film of 2009, surpassing Star Trek in its fifth week of release. Falling 45% to $13 million, the film managed a decent drop despite the overwhelming presence of Transformers 2. In five weeks the film has grossed a lofty $250.3 million, and should be able to replace No. 2 on the all-time Pixar by next weekend. Already ranked as the fourth highest grossing film in studio history, the $175 million budgeted pic is poised to surpass the $255.8m of Monsters, Inc. (No. 3), and the $261.4m haul of The Incredibles (No. 2). The film is still just barely behind the pace of 2003's Finding Nemo which grossed $339.7 million domestic, but with Ice Age 3 on the near-term horizon, and Harry Potter VI not far behind that, it appears unlikely Up would unseat Nemo at the top of the list. Still, given the fantastic word of mouth this summer, look for Up to just barely cross $300 million domestic.

The numbers, June 26-28, 2009

2009-06-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$112,000,000	4,234	$26,453	$201,246,000	--	1	Paramount
2	The Proposal	$18,466,000	3,058	$6,039	$69,050,000	-45.1	2	Buena Vista
3	The Hangover	$17,210,000	3,525	$4,882	$183,242,000	-35.7	4	Warner Bros.
4	Up	$13,046,000	3,487	$3,741	$250,218,000	-44.5	5	Buena Vista
5	My Sister's Keeper	$12,030,000	2,606	$4,616	$12,030,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
6	Year One	$5,800,000	3,024	$1,918	$32,307,000	-70.4	2	Sony
7	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	$5,400,000	2,995	$1,803	$53,406,000	-55.1	3	Sony
8	Star Trek	$3,606,000	1,823	$1,978	$246,225,000	-34.6	8	Paramount
9	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smith.	$3,500,000	2,250	$1,556	$163,248,000	-55.2	6	Fox
10	Away We Go	$1,678,000	495	$3,390	$4,056,000	92.6	4	Focus

'Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen' annhilates competition with est. $200m opening

2009-06-28T02:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to its record smashing $60.6 million Wednesday opening bow, a huge $28.6 million Thursday, another mind-boggling $36.7 million Friday and an estimated $39.5 million Saturday, Michael Bay's blockbuster sequel Transformers 2 looks headed towards $200 million for a five-day weekend, becoming only the second film in history to achieve that mark, following The Dark Knight's $203 million five-day bow. If Sunday estimates come in better than expected, its concievable the two-and-a-half hour actioner could best even that mark, a record once thought untouchable.

Despite being savaged by critics, the critic-proof sequel appears likely to be the top grossing pic of 2009, unless Ice Age 3 (opening July 4th) and Harry Potter VI (opening July 15th) can knock the Shia LeBeouf pic off course.

'Transformers 2' wallops box office with record smashing $60.6m Wednesday

2009-06-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

In a summer where mostly the stronger reviewed films have fared the best -- Star Trek, Up and The Hangover have all enjoyed strong openings and long lucrative box office runs -- here comes Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to hit the reset button and restore the summer box office blockbuster back to its old habits.

Garnering some of the worst reviews of the entire year (a dismal 21% on Rottentomatoes.com), Transformers 2 exploded in its opening day bow, raking in over $60.6 million on Wednesday, including a staggering $16 million from midnight screenings alone. That annihilates the previous record holder Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which debuted with $44.2 million in 2007. Surging past even the most optimistic predictions from Paramount themselves, the $200 million budgeted sequel looks certain to beat the overall gross of its 2007 blockbuster predecessor Transformers, which took in $319 million domestic and $708 million worldwide.

The Megan Fox-Shia LeBeouf starrer looks on pace to shatter the current 5-day record holder, Warner's The Dark Knight with $203 million.

'The Proposal' dominates weekend with $34.1m debut, June 19-21, 2009

2009-06-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

Sandra Bullock posted the biggest opening of her career as her romantic comedy The Proposal dominated the box office at No. 1 with a whopping $34.1 million. Two week champ The Hangover continued its torrid pace with a slight 18% drop, while Pixar's Up edged out the other newcomer Year One for third place. Overall, the box office finished on par with last year's comparable frame, after three sluggish weeks behind the pace.

Finishing the weekend in the top spot for the first time in ten years (when Forces of Nature topped with $13.5m), Sandra Bullock made her long awaited return to the romantic comedy as The Proposal surged past industry expectations with an estimated $34.1 million. The opening nearly doubled her previous career best, the 2007 thriller Premonition.

Averaging a powerful $11,163 from 3,056 theaters, the Buena Vista release shrugged of mixed reviews, arriving just in time for female viewers in need of something other than horror, action and comedy. Budgeted at just $40 million, the Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds starrer was helped by a very strong marketing push, as well as sneak previews last weekend which helped get early word of mouth generated heading into Friday.

The debut for The Proposal was on par with 2002's hit romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama, which took in $35.6m in its debut on its way to $127.2m total, and 2006's The Break-Up, which bowed with $39.1 on its way to $118.7m domestic. With few direct competitors on the horizon, look for The Proposal to become just the fourth film in Sandra Bullock's career to break $100 million domestic.

Despite losing the top spot this weekend, Warner Bros.' blockbuster R-rated comedy The Hangover continued its staggering run at the box office, slipping just 18% to $26.9 million. That brings the $35 million budgeted pic to a 17-day $152.9 million cume. The Vegas-inspired comedy now looks on pace to not only surpass Wedding Crashers, which current stands as the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all-time at $209m, but become one of the top five highest grossing R-rated films in history.

Once again falling in line right behind The Hangover was Pixar's blockbuster family comedy Up, which slipped just 31% to $21.3 million this weekend, bringing its four week cume to an incredible $224.1 million. In just 24 days the Disney release has become the 6th highest grossing Pixar film in history, surpassing the entire domestic gross of last year's Oscar winning hit Wall-E with $223.8 million, as well as 2007's Oscar winner Ratatouille with $206.4 million.

Budgeted at a hefty $175 million, the acclaimed computer-animated comedy continues to follow the pace of Pixar's highest grossing film ever, Finding Nemo, which took in $21.1 million in its fourth weekend for a $228.5 million cume. Nemo would eventually finish its domestic run with $339.7 million, becoming the second highest grossing animated film in history.

With 60% of its business being coming from the more lucrative 3-D equipped theaters, the next few weeks could be much tougher with the arrival of Fox's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which will eat up a significant portion of the 3-D screens when it opens July 1st. Regardless, Up looks certain to surpass The Incredibles's $261 million domestic haul, which would make it the second highest grossing film in Pixar's illustrious history.

Dismal reviews relegated Jack Black and Michael Cera's latest comedy Year One to fourth place, as the $60m budgeted PG-13 pic finished with $20.2 million in 3,022 theaters for a $6,684 average. The opening was on par with his 2003 comedy School of Rock, which opened with $19.6 million. However, don't expect Year One to exhibit the same kind of legs that helped Rock finish with $81.2 million domestic.

The numbers, June 19-21, 2009

2009-06-22T00:35:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	The Proposal	$34,114,000	3,056	$11,163	$34,114,000	--	1	Buena Vista
2	The Hangover	$26,855,000	3,545	$7,575	$152,919,000	-18.1	3	Warner Bros.
3	Up	$21,336,000	3,832	$5,568	$224,113,000	-30.6	4	Buena Vista
4	Year One	$20,200,000	3,022	$6,684	$20,200,000	--	1	Sony
5	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	$11,300,000	3,077	$3,672	$43,332,000	-51.7	2	Sony
6	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	$7,300,000	2,962	$2,465	$155,953,000	-24.1	5	Fox
7	Star Trek	$4,700,000	2,307	$2,037	$239,444,000	-13.8	7	Paramount
8	Land of the Lost	$3,976,000	2,945	$1,350	$43,672,000	-55.8	3	Universal
9	Imagine That	$3,100,000	3,011	$1,030	$11,351,000	-43.7	2	Paramount
10	Terminator Salvation	$3,070,000	1,920	$1,599	$119,513,000	-35.9	5	Warner Bros.

'Hangover' tops box office again with $32.5m, June 12-14, 2009

2009-06-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Audiences once again opted for the one-two weekend punch of the R-rated hit comedy The Hangover and Disney-Pixar's blockbuster smash Up, as both films finished with the two best holdovers in the top ten. Of the weekend's two new releases, The Taking of Pehlam 123 shrugged off mediocre reviews thanks to its starpower finishing in third place, while Eddie Murphy's box office struggles continued with his family flop Imagine That.

After narrowly holding off Up when last weekend's final numbers were released last Monday, The Hangover finally became the first film in four months to finish in the top spot for two weeks in a row, falling just 26% to $33.4 million. Thanks to phenomenal weekday sales last week (Monday-Thursday netted the Warner comedy a whopping $27 million), the $30 million budgeted comedy has now amassed $105.4 million in its first ten days of release, and looks on pace to become the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all-time.

Thanks to phenomenal word of mouth the Warner release didn't miss a beat despite decent competition from the Denzel Washington-John Travolta starrer Pelham, besting even the strong sophomore frames of fellow R-rated hits Knocked Up (36%) and Tropic Thunder (37%). The second weekend drop was comparable to the 24% slide from 2005's Wedding Crashers, which went on to become the highest grossing R-rated comedy in history with $209.2 million. At its current pace with weekday sales continuing to be strong, look for Hangover to surge past Wedding Crashers by the end of the summer.

Though bested for a second straight week by sleeper sensation The Hangover, Disney-Pixar's latest blockbuster Up continued to reign unopposed in the family film market, falling just 31% to $30.5 million. That gives the PG release the second biggest 3rd weekend ever for an animated pic, behind only Shrek 2's $37.9 million haul back in 2004, and ahead of such notables as Finding Nemo with $28.4m (39% drop) and The Incredibles with $26.5 million (47% drop).

In just 17 days the $175 million budgeted Pete Docter release has grossed a phenomenal $187.2 million, and has amazingly closed the gap with Finding Nemo, which took in $191.5 million in its first 17 days of release. That film went on to become the highest grossing animated film in history back in 2003, though it relinquished the title a year later to 2004's mega-smash Shrek 2 with $441 million. Thanks to fantastic word of mouth, still strong margins from the 1500+ 3-D equipped theaters, and little direct competition until July 4th's Ice Age 3, Up looks likely to become just the fourth $300+ million grossing computer-animated release in history.

Debuting in third with a strong $25 million was the Denzel Washington-John Travolta remake The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which averaged a solid $8,133 in 3,074 theaters. The R-rated Tony Scott-directed actioner received mixed reviews from critics (a "rotten" 50% score from Rottentomatoes.com), but managed to open stronger than Washington and Scott's previous collaborations Deja Vu ($20.5m) and Man on Fire ($22.7m), as well as Washington's Oscar-winning turn in Training Day ($22.5m). It was the actor's third biggest opening ever behind only American Gangster ($43.6m) and Inside Man ($29m). With a 13% increase in sales from Friday to Saturday, word of mouth appears fairly strong, which could indicate a healthy run at the domestic box office this summer.

Fox's hit comedy Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian continued to exhibit strong legs, falling just 34% in its fourth weekend to $9.6 million, bringing its cume to $143.4 million. Though its trajectory is significantly behind that of its 2006 blockbuster predecessor Night at the Museum, which had accumulated $185 million by its fourth weekend on its way to $250.8 million total, Smithsonian still appears likely to surpass $175 million domestic.

After a dreadful opening last weekend, Will Ferrell's action-comedy TV adaptation Land of the Lost fell 51% to $9.2 million, bringing its ten-day cume to just $34.9 million. Look for the $100 million budgeted Universal pic to finish with a paltry $55 million domestic.

The only other debut this weekend came from Eddie Murphy's family comedy Imagine That, which failed draw much attention amongst popular alternatives Up and Night at the Museum, finishing with a disappointing $5.7 million. Carrying a $55 million price tag, the Paramount release averaged a pathetic $1,895 in an ultrawide 3,008 theaters, barely edging out last year's flop Meet Dave which bowed with $5.3 million.

Despite strong holdover performances from The Hangover and Up, the top ten films managed just $131.7 million in ticket sales, down a whopping 25% from last year's comparable frame when The Incredible Hulk debuted at No. 1 with $55.4 million.

The numbers, June 12-14, 2009

2009-06-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	The Hangover	$33,415,000	3,355	$9,960	$105,389,000	-25.7	2	Warner Bros.
2	Up	$30,515,000	3,886	$7,853	$187,179,000	-30.9	3	Buena Vista
3	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	$25,000,000	3,074	$8,133	$25,000,000	--	1	Sony
4	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	$9,600,000	3,365	$2,853	$143,447,000	-34.4	4	Fox
5	Land of the Lost	$9,153,000	3,534	$2,590	$34,980,000	-51.4	2	Universal
6	Imagine That	$5,700,000	3,008	$1,895	$5,700,000	--	1	Paramount
7	Star Trek	$5,600,000	2,638	$2,123	$232,028,000	-32.6	6	Paramount
8	Terminator Salvation	$4,695,000	2,650	$1,772	$113,831,000	-43.1	4	Warner Bros.
9	Angels & Demons	$4,200,000	2,436	$1,724	$123,300,000	-35.9	5	Sony
10	Drag Me to Hell	$3,864,000	2,273	$1,700	$35,146,000	-45.1	3	Universal

'Up' edges 'Hangover' for top spot with $44.2m, June 5-7, 2009

2009-06-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

In a weekend many thought might be a battle of two newcomers, it was Disney-Pixar's blockbuster family comedy Up which held on to the top spot, leading all films with another fantastic $44.2 million. Its biggest challenger was not Will Ferrell's big budget TV adaptation Land of the Lost, but rather the modestly budgeted R-rated comedy The Hangover, which despite no big stars managed one of the biggest opening weekends ever for an R-rated comedy at $43.2 million. Unable to shrug off horrendous reviews, Land of the Lost finished a distant third with $19.5 million.

Battling throughout the weekend for the top crown, Pixar Animation's Up and Warner Bros.' The Hangover traded places between Friday and Saturday, with the PG-rated animated hit edging the raunchy R-rated comedy by less than $1 million by Sunday. Falling just 35% from its better than expected debut last weekend the $175 million budgeted pic finished with $44.2 million, bringing its ten day take to a remarkable $137.3 million. That ten-day haul is the third biggest in Pixar history, behind only 2003's Finding Nemo with $144 million and 2004's The Incredibles with $143.2 million. Finding Nemo posted a sophomore frame of $46.6 million (down 33.7%) on its way to $339.7 million total, while The Incredibles posted a $50.2 million second weekend (down 28.7%) on its way to $261.4 million.

Thanks to glowing reviews and fantastic word of mouth, Up became the first film in four months to finish at No.1 in consecutive weekends and also posted the biggest sophomore frame since The Dark Knight finished with $75.1 million last July. At its current pace and with no direct competition until Ice Age 3 on July 1st, look for Up to become the second biggest film in Pixar history with a $270-280 million domestic haul.

Blowing away nearly all industry projections this weekend, Warner Bros.' raunchy Vegas comedy The Hangover debuted in second with $43.3 million, posting the third biggest opening ever for an R-rated comedy. Averaging a whopping $13,238 in 3,269 theaters, the well-reviewed pic beat out R-rated brethren like Superbad ($33.1 million), Wedding Crashers ($33.9 million) and Knocked Up ($30.7 million) despite a relatively unknown cast.

Carrying a production budget of just $30 million, the Todd Phillips directed pic will go a long way in helping Warner shake off the disturbing performance of its summer tentpole Terminator Salvation, which limped across the $100 million mark in its third week of release in spite of its $200 million price tag. Knowing they already had a hit on their hands, Warner had already greenlit a sequel for its newest comedy franchise.

Universal's gamble in bringing a cheesy 1970s Saturday morning TV show to the big screen blew up in their face as their big budget family comedy Land of the Lost debuted in a distant third with just $19.5 million. Savaged by critics (RT score of just 28%), the Will Ferrell vehicle came to theaters with a $100 million price tag, averaging $5,545 in 3,521 theaters.

Ferrell's affinity for turning 70s era TV shows into big budget theatrical productions has been a mixed bag, with 2005's Bewitched opening to $20.1 million on its way to $63.3m total, and 2004's Starsky and Hutch (in which he had a non-starring role) debuting with $28.1 million and $88.2m total. Universal's choice to launch Land of the Lost this weekend was probably its downfall, as the film was forced to follow the second weekend of Pixar's Up, and the third for Fox's Night at the Museum 2, all of whom share the same PG family demographic. Fans of Ferrell most likely chose the better-reviewed and less watered-down The Hangover. Look for Lost to finish with less than $50 million domestic.

The numbers, June 5-7, 2009

2009-06-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Up	$44,244,000	3,818	$11,588	$137,316,000	-35.0	2	Buena Vista
2	The Hangover	$43,275,000	3,269	$13,238	$43,275,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
3	Land of the Lost	$19,524,000	3,521	$5,545	$19,524,000	--	1	Universal
4	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	$14,650,000	3,807	$3,848	$127,341,000	-39.8	3	Fox
5	Star Trek	$8,400,000	3,202	$2,623	$222,802,000	-33.4	5	Paramount
6	Terminator Salvation	$8,175,000	3,304	$2,474	$105,495,000	-50.3	3	Warner Bros.
7	Drag Me to Hell	$7,342,000	2,510	$2,925	$28,534,000	-53.6	2	Universal
8	Angels & Demons	$6,500,000	2,925	$2,222	$116,125,000	-42.7	4	Sony
9	My Life in Ruins	$3,225,000	1,164	$2,771	$3,225,000	--	1	Fox Searchlight
10	Dance Flick	$2,000,000	1,707	$1,172	$22,667,000	-57.8	3	Paramount

Pixar's sky high as 'Up' soars to $68.2m debut, May 29-31, 2009

2009-05-31T22:42:00.000-07:00

Disney-Pixar's computer-animated family film Up dominated the box office in its debut, raking in a whopping $68.2 million. Directed by Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc), the well-reviewed pic represented the first ever 3-D release by Disney's Pixar Animation Studios, as well as the studio's tenth straight No. 1 opening.

The impressive debut ranks as the third biggest in Pixar's illustrious history, finishing behind only the studio's blockbuster hits "Finding Nemo" with $70.2m and "The Incredibles" with $70.5m. Released in 2004, The Incredibles finished with $260m domestic while 2003's Finding Nemo raked in $339.7m, still Pixar's highest grossing film ever.

Featuring the unusual combination of a grumpy old man, a young kid and a floating house, heavy skepticism from Wall Street about the film's financial viability weighed down many predictions for a big opening weekend. Most analysts projected a $50-60 million weekend.

But thanks to a successful premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, glowing reviews (critics polled by rottentomatoes.com gave the film a 98% "fresh" score) and a huge marketing campaign from Disney, the film posted the fourth biggest opening of 2009 and sixth biggest opening ever for an animated release. It was the biggest animated feature opening since 2007's summer hit The Simpsons Movie bowed with $74 million, and the third biggest non-sequel animated debut of all-time (behind only The Incredibles and Finding Nemo). Pixar's Up also compared favorably to its rival studio DreamWorks Animation, whose hits Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 2 managed $60.2 million and $63.1 million respectively last year.

Delving into the details for the weekend, Disney has got to feel good about the long-term prospects for Pixar's latest effort. Nearly a third of the opening weekend audience were adults without children and 5% were over the age of 50, an unusually high number for an animated release, indicating just how broad the demographic reach of the film was. Also encouraging was audience reaction to the film, with moviegoers polled by Cinemascore giving the film an incredible A+ rating.

Those internals were supported by a healthy 24% increase in ticket sales from Friday to Saturday, indicating strong word of mouth. Given the hefty price tag, the stakes are high for Up to perform well in theaters. Pixar films have lately performed much stronger internationally, and the bulk of its overseas release date takes place in the fall. The film did open in Russia to $4.2 million, Pixar's biggest opening ever in that country.

The numbers, May 29-31, 2009

2009-05-31T20:37:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Up	$68,200,000	3,766	$18,109	$68,200,000	--	1	Buena Vista
2	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	$25,500,000	4,101	$6,218	$105,296,000	-52.9	2	Fox
3	Drag Me to Hell	$16,628,000	2,508	$6,630	$16,628,000	--	1	Universal
4	Terminator Salvation	$16,140,000	3,602	$4,481	$90,657,000	-62.1	2	Warner Bros.
5	Star Trek	$12,800,000	3,507	$3,650	$209,500,000	-44.1	4	Paramount
6	Angels & Demons	$11,200,000	3,464	$3,233	$104,760,000	-48.4	3	Sony
7	Dance Flick	$4,900,000	2,459	$1,993	$19,241,000	-54.0	2	Paramount
8	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$3,900,000	2,263	$1,723	$170,870,000	-51.7	5	Fox
9	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	$1,910,000	1,450	$1,317	$50,020,000	-50.3	5	Warner Bros.
10	Obsessed	$665,000	679	$979	$67,508,000	-66.3	6	Sony

Pixar's 'Up' soars to $20.4m on Friday

2009-05-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Though early reports have varied, it looks like Pixar/Disney's animated family adventure "Up" is headed toward a weekend gross in the high $60+ million range. Slashfilm reported first that inside sources put Up's Friday bow at $20.4 million. Variety is now reporting that Disney estimates put the film's Friday take at $21.4 million, which would make it the second biggest opening day in Pixar history (behind only Wall-e's $23.2 million Friday haul).

Playing in 3,766 theaters, Up already set a record for most 3-D screens launched at 1,530. That number should help its weekend total immensely given the better ticket margins for 3-D equipped theaters.

Easily the best reviewed film of the year thus far, with critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com giving the film a stellar 98% "fresh" score, look for word of mouth and a huge Saturday to push Up towards a $66-70 million bow. The two biggest openings in studio history are 2004's The Incredibles with $70.5 million and 2003's Finding Nemo wit $70.3 million.

'Night at the Museum 2' bests 'Terminator Salvation' with $70m bow, May 22-25, 2009

2009-05-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

Though this Memorial Day weekend didn't have the wow factor of last year's $126 million Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull bow, or even better 2007's $139.8 million Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End debut, the weekend's two heavyweights Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Terminator Salvation posted strong openings, helping the box office equal the total of last year's holiday frame.

The consensus among analysts was a tight victory for Fox's big budget Night at the Museum, but the sequel blew away even those lofty predictions with a huge $70 million four-day bow, outpacing Salvation by over $16 million and averaging an impressive $17,090 from Friday to Monday from an ultrawide 4,096 theaters. Over the three day frame the Ben Stiller pic took in $53.5 million.

The sequel to Fox's $574 million grossing comedy blockbuster Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian's $53.5 million Friday-Sunday haul was the biggest live-action debut ever for star Ben Stiller, surpassing the $46m debut of 2004's Meet the Fockers. His career best is still last winter's animated Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which bowed with $63.1 million.

The original Night at the Museum debuted over the Christmas frame of 2006, opening over the four-day holiday frame with $42.2 million on its way to $250.9m domestic and $574m worldwide. Budgeted at a hefty $150 million, this latest family comedy will face stiff competition next weekend in the form of Pixar's computer-animated comedy Up. Internationally, Smithsonian hauled in an additional $50 million, giving the PG-rated pic a huge $120 million global launch.

Debuting in second with what was certainly a very disappointing $53.8 million four-day bow was Warner's massively-expensive sequel Terminator Salvation. Directed by McG, the $200 million budgeted sci-fi actioner averaged $15,248 in 3,530 theaters.

With buzz seemingly strong given the Springtime hoopla surrounding Christian Bale's on-set meltdown, as well as the strength of the sci-fi franchise itself, many thought Terminator Salvation had the makings of one of the summer's surefire blockbusters. But poor reviews (34% on Rottentomatoes.com) and a surprisingly huge weekend from top competitor Night at the Museum doomed the film's hopes of a record weekend.

Instead, the film finished below its 2003 predecessor Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which took in $72.4 million over its first five days of release compared with the $67.2 million haul for Salvation (which includes Thursday-Monday numbers). Over the Friday-to-Sunday frame Salvation managed just $43 million.

The film's massive price tag was split by Warner Bros., who is handling the film's domestic release, and Sony, which owns the rights to the international market.

The curious choice of handing over the reigns of their Terminator franchise to McG, whose most notable films to date have been the two Charlie's Angels movies, will surely be wondered about for the remainder of the summer. And unless the film generates Oscar-worthy word of mouth, don't expect Salvation to come close to recouping its gigantic budget on the domestic side.

The only other wide-release debut this weekend came from Paramount's spoof comedy Dance Flick, which took in $13.1 million over the holiday frame, averaging $5,347 in 2,450 theaters.

The numbers, May 22-25, 2009

2009-05-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	$70,000,000	4,096	$17,090	$70,000,000	--	1	Fox
2	Terminator Salvation	$53,825,000	3,530	$15,248	$67,197,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
3	Star Trek	$29,400,000	4,053	$7,254	$191,034,000	-31.7	3	Paramount
4	Angels & Demons	$27,700,000	3,527	$7,854	$87,811,000	-40.0	2	Sony
5	Dance Flick	$13,100,000	2,450	$5,347	$13,100,000	--	1	Paramount
6	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$10,100,000	3,183	$3,173	$165,354,000	-31.3	4	Fox
7	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	$4,835,000	2,255	$2,144	$46,973,000	-27.3	4	Warner Bros.
8	Obsessed	$2,500,000	1,603	$1,560	$66,408,000	-45.5	5	Sony
9	Monsters vs. Aliens	$1,900,000	1,434	$1,325	$193,546,000	-40.3	9	Paramount
10	17 Again	$1,280,000	1,107	$1,156	$60,589,000	-62.0	6	Warner Bros.

'Angels & Demons' unseats 'Star Trek' for top spot with $48m, May 15-17, 2009

2009-05-18T01:32:00.000-07:00

*correction: Monsters vs. Aliens is currently the top grossing film of 2009, not X-Men Origins: Wolverine (thanks anonymous)

Sony's big budget sequel Angels & Demons reunited director Ron Howard with his main star Tom Hanks, and the combination proved to be enough to unseat last week's reigning champ Star Trek, though just barely. Debuting in 3,527 theaters, the $150 million budgeted book adaptation opened with $48 million, averaging a strong $13,609 per theater.

Still, the debut was significantly lower than its predecessor The Da Vinci Code, which launched amid controversy to $77 million back in May 2006. The film finished with a whopping $217.5 million domestic. Angels & Demons takes place chronologically before Da Vinci Code, and was a far less popular book, which could have reduced its box office appeal.

Suffering from mostly poor reviews from critics Angels & Demons clearly opened below industry expectations, given the name recognition of the franchise, big debut from its predecessor, and lucrative pre-Memorial Day weekend release date. With many analysts anticipating at least a mid-$50 million opening, the $48 million bow had to have been disappointing for Sony execs. It was the worst week-before-Memorial Day weekend in nearly a decade, dating back to Disney's computer-animated Dinosaur, which debuted with $38.9 million.

Released day and date internationally, Angels & Demons raked in a far more impressive $104.3 million, giving the film a very potent worldwide opening haul of $152.3 million.

Holding very strong in second with s 43% drop was Paramount's hit sci-fi actioner Star Trek with $43 million. The JJ Abrams reboot has now amassed $147.6 million in just ten days of release, nearly surpassing the total gross of third place finisher X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Word of mouth has clearly boosted the film's box office prospects, and a $250+ million domestic haul seems like a sure bet.

By mid-week Star Trek will surpass Wolverine in becoming the top grossing film of the summer, and has already surpassed 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ($109.7m) as the highest grossing film in Trek history. The top grosser of 2009 is currently Monsters vs. Aliens with $190 million*. Internationally, Star Trek hasn't played nearly as strong, raking in $70 million in two weeks of release, bringing its worldwide take to $217.6 million.

Falling 44% to third was Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which took in $14.8 million bringing its three week cume to $151.1 million. The film is still the current worldwide leader at the box office, with $151.1m domestic and another $144.5m overseas. Its worldwide take is an incredible $295.6 million.

The numbers, May 15-17, 2009

2009-05-18T00:38:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Angels & Demons	$48,000,000	3,527	$13,609	$48,000,000	--	1	Sony
2	Star Trek	$43,000,000	3,860	$11,140	$147,611,000	-42.8	2	Paramount
3	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$14,800,000	3,892	$3,803	$151,091,000	-44.0	3	Fox
4	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	$6,860,000	3,150	$2,178	$40,062,000	-33.1	3	Warner Bros.
5	Obsessed	$4,550,000	2,634	$1,727	$62,571,000	-30.6	4	Sony
6	17 Again	$3,400,000	2,450	$1,388	$58,395,000	-19.7	5	Warner Bros.
7	Monsters vs. Aliens	$3,000,000	1,931	$1,554	$190,552,000	-8.0	8	Paramount
8	The Soloist	$2,425,000	2,022	$1,199	$27,527,000	-38.6	4	Paramount
9	Next Day Air	$2,280,000	1,139	$2,002	$7,648,000	-44.5	2	Summit
10	Earth	$1,680,000	1,584	$1,061	$29,071,000	-37.0	4	Buena Vista

'Star Trek' reboots franchise with dazzling $76.5m debut, May 8-10, 2009

2009-05-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

Paramount's long-awaited reboot of their beloved but tired Star Trek franchise worked out about as perfectly as they could have hoped for, as their newest caretaker JJ Abrams dazzled both critics and audiences this weekend with his update of the sci-fi saga. Thanks to a hefty marketing push from Paramount and near universal praise from critics (a whopping 96% of critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com gave the film a recommendation rating), Star Trek cruised to an easy victory with $72.5 million over the weekend and $76.5 million including Thursday night sneak screenings.

Budgeted at $125 million, Abrams and a brand new cast of hot young trekkies managed to revive a franchise once thought all but dead. The last film in the franchise to hit theaters was 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis, which petered out with just $43.2 million, the worst performing film among ten dating back to 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Star Trek is the eleventh film in the series).

Star Trek's $72.5 million debut easily became the biggest debut ever for the franchise, surpassing the $30.7 million opening of 1996's First Contact. Its $76.5 million total already puts the film at No. 5 on the all-time Trek list. Reaching out to a much broader audience than any other Star Trek film to date, the Chris Pine-Zachary Quinto starrer managed to create tremendous buzz in a fairly crowded May, which includes last week's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the upcoming Angels & Demons, Terminator Salvation, Night at the Museum, and Up.

Starting with $30.8 million in ticket sales on Friday (including $4 million from Thursday screenings), the film slipped an understandable 11% to $27.4 million on Saturday, falling another 33% to $18.3 million on Sunday. If word of mouth is as strong as reviews have been, look for Star Trek to easily outpace Wolverine by the end of May, and perhaps make a run at $200 million domestic.

After posting a surprisingly strong $85.1 million bow last weekend, Fox's poorly-reviewed X-Men Origins: Wolverine played to form in its sophomore frame, falling 68% to $27 million in second. Thanks to poor word of mouth, and a huge opening from Star Trek, Wolverine's days near the top of the charts seems numbered. Next weekend brings Tom Hank's Angels and Demons, which will continue to hurt the $150 million budgeted superhero pic. Still, in ten days the film has grossed a fantastic $129.6 million, and should wind up with $165 million domestic.

Mathew McConaughey's romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past finished in third with $10.5 million, slipping just 32% from its debut last week. In ten days, the Warner pic has collected $30.2 million.

The weekend's only other debut went quietly to Summit Entertainment's comedy Next Day Air, which opened in sixth with $4 million. The R-rated pic starring Mos Def and Donal Faison averaged just $3,515 in 1,138 theaters.

The numbers, May 8-10, 2009

2009-05-10T21:01:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Star Trek	$72,500,000	3,849	$18,836	$76,500,000	--	1	Paramount
2	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$27,000,000	4,102	$6,582	$129,624,000	-68.3	2	Fox
3	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	$10,450,000	3,175	$3,291	$30,246,000	-32.2	2	Warner Bros.
4	Obsessed	$6,600,000	2,602	$2,537	$56,247,000	-45.2	3	Sony
5	17 Again	$4,405,000	2,903	$1,517	$54,167,000	-30.8	4	Warner Bros.
6	Next Day Air	$4,000,000	1,138	$3,515	$4,000,000	--	1	Summit
7	The Soloist	$3,605,000	2,090	$1,725	$23,501,000	-36.2	3	Paramount
8	Monsters vs. Aliens	$3,379,000	2,185	$1,546	$186,892,000	-41.8	7	Paramount
9	Earth	$2,488,000	1,794	$1,387	$26,086,000	-42.7	3	Buena Vista
10	Hannah Montana The Movie	$2,414,000	2,301	$1,049	$74,083,000	-42.0	5	Buena Vista

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' slashes at record book with $85.1m debut, May 1-3, 2009

2009-05-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

The first of Fox's big-budget X-Men spin-offs got the 2009 summer season into full swing as the superhero pic X-Men Origins: Wolverine slashed the competition with with a powerful $85.1 million opening, posting the fifth largest debut in history for the first weekend of May.

Budgeted at a hefty $150 million, the Hugh Jackman starrer averaged a scorching $20,751 in 4,099 theaters (a studio record), posting the twelfth largest May opening ever. The biggest May opening of all-time still belongs to 2007's Spider-Man 3, which also posted a $151 million three-day bow over the first weekend of May. Wolverine also became the fifth biggest first weekend of May opening ever, behind only Spider-Man 3, 2002's Spider-Man ($114.8m), 2008's Iron Man ($98.6m), and 2003's X2: X-Men United ($85.6m). Among the X-Men franchise, Wolverine ranks third, behind 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand and X2. The original X-Men opened in 2000 with $54.4 million.

Directed by Gavin Hood, reviews were relatively poor for Wolverine, but thanks to a massive marketing campaign from Fox the film managed a monstrous $35 million opening day on Friday, followed by a 27% drop to $21.3 million on Saturday. Though Marvel Studios opened its own film studio to develop new franchises like Iron Man and The Avengers on its own, Fox still has a development deal with Marvel for the X-Men series. Up next for the franchise is a Magneto origin pic, with a release date set for summer 2011.

The numbers, May 1-3, 2009

2009-05-04T01:18:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$87,000,000	4,099	$21,225	$87,000,000	--	1	Fox
2	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	$15,325,000	3,175	$4,827	$15,325,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
3	Obsessed	$12,200,000	2,514	$4,853	$47,002,000	-57.4	2	Sony
4	17 Again	$6,355,000	3,255	$1,952	$48,497,000	-44.8	3	Warner Bros.
5	Monsters vs. Aliens	$5,800,000	2,626	$2,209	$182,405,000	-31.9	6	Paramount
6	The Soloist	$5,600,000	2,033	$2,755	$18,108,000	-42.4	2	Paramount
7	Earth	$4,184,000	1,804	$2,319	$21,848,000	-52.6	2	Buena Vista
8	Fighting	$4,173,000	2,312	$1,805	$17,507,000	-62.1	2	Universal
9	Hannah Montana The Movie	$4,075,000	2,819	$1,446	$70,857,000	-36.7	4	Buena Vista
10	State of Play	$3,655,000	2,445	$1,495	$30,883,000	-46.6	3	Universal

'Obsessed' paces box office with $28.5m debut, April 24-26, 2009

2009-04-27T01:58:00.000-07:00

Sony Screen Gems hit the jackpot with their heavily marketed thriller Obsessed, which scorched the box office with $28.5 million, more than doubling its next closest competitor. Starring Beyonce Knowles, Idris Elba, and Ali Larter, the debut finished off a record breaking April, once again finishing an impressive 30% higher than last year's comparable frame. Thanks to an edgy premise (a happily married black couple jeopardized by an obsessed sexy white temptress) and a rather hefty marketing campaign, Obsessed averaged an incredible $11,337 in 2,514 theaters. It was remarkably the seventh biggest April bow in history, as well as the second biggest in studio history, behind Streen Gems' 2005 thriller The Exorcism of Emily Rose with $30.1 million. Budgeted at a modest $20 million, the already profitable PG-13 rated pic was poorly reviewed by critics.

Zac Efron's comedy 17 Again slipped 51% in its sophomore frame to $11.7 million, bringing its ten day take to a solid $40 million. At its current pace the PG-13 hit should finish with $70 million domestic.

Debuting in third was the action drama Fighting, which brought in $11.4 million. Starring Step Up's Channing Tatum, the Rogue Pictures release averaged $4,955 in 2,309 theaters. Released in 2006, Step Up bowed with $20.6 million on its way to $65 million. Fighting's prospects to repeat that total seem slim to none.

The most disappointing performance this weekend came from Paramount's drama The Soloist, which couldn't shrug off weak reviews finishing in fourth with $9.7 million. Starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, the PG-13 pic based on a real life journalist and musician friendship, averaged $4,800 in 2,024 theaters. Budgeted at $60 million largely because of its two high-priced stars, The Soloist will have real trouble breaking $25 million domestic.

Rounding out the top five was Disney's Planet Earth wannabe Earth, which took in $8.6 million this weekend. Averaging $4,742 in 1,804 theaters, the G-rated documentary launched Wednesday (consequently on Earth Day), bringing in a very impressive $14.2 million over the five-day frame. The $8.6 million weekend haul was the second biggest opening ever for a documentary behind only 2004's Fahrenheit 9/11, which debuted with $23.9 million. It is already the second highest grossing nature-themed documentary in history, behind only 2005's March of the Penguins with $77.4 million.

The numbers, April 24-26, 2009

2009-04-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Obsessed	$28,500,000	2,514	$11,337	$28,500,000	--	1	Sony
2	17 Again	$11,665,000	3,255	$3,584	$39,970,000	-50.8	2	Warner Bros.
3	Fighting	$11,441,000	2,309	$4,955	$11,441,000	--	1	Universal
4	The Soloist	$9,715,000	2,024	$4,800	$9,715,000	--	1	Paramount
5	Earth	$8,554,000	1,804	$4,742	$14,201,000	--	1	Buena Vista
6	Monsters vs. Aliens	$8,524,000	3,358	$2,538	$174,817,000	-35.6	5	Paramount
7	State of Play	$6,891,000	2,807	$2,455	$25,124,000	-51.0	2	Universal
8	Hannah Montana The Movie	$6,372,000	3,231	$1,972	$65,590,000	-52.5	3	Buena Vista
9	Fast & Furious	$6,062,000	3,566	$1,700	$145,224,000	-48.5	4	Universal
10	Crank High Voltage	$2,400,000	2,223	$1,080	$11,518,000	-65.5	2	Lionsgate

'17 Again' tops with $24.4m, April 17-19, 2009

2009-04-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

The box office continued its incredible run through 2009 with another big weekend as Zac Efron's comedy 17 Again dominated the top ten in its debut, out-pacing second place opener State of Play by nearly $10 million. In a distant sixth was Jason Statham's actioner Crank High Voltage. Overall, the top ten films finished up a hefty 21% from last year's comparable frame when The Forbidden Kingdom topped with $21.4 million. It was up an even more remarkable 40% from 2007 when Disturbia held the top spot with $13 million.

Leading all films this weekend was Zac Efron's family comedy 17 Again, debuting with a strong $23.7 million and relegating Russell Crowe and his State of Play to a distant second place finish. The Warner pic averaged an impressive $7,288 in 3,255 theaters, as the young actor broadened his audience reach with his first ever PG-13 rated picture.

Compared with similarly themed "body swapping" pictures, 17 Again posted the biggest debut of the bunch. 1988's Big opened to $8.2 million on its way to $115 million total. Jennifer Garner's 13 Going on 30 bowed with $21 million on its way to $57 million domestic. 2003's Freaky Friday debuted with $22.2 million, finishing with $110.2 million.

Debuting in second was Russell Crowe's thriller State of Play, which finished with $14 million in 2,803 theaters. Co-starring Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren, the well-reviewed Universal pic averaged $5,030 per theater. The debut was slightly better than Crowe's last outing, 2008's Body of Lies which bowed with $12.8 million on its way to $39.3 million domestic.

Disney's Hannah Montana The Movie finished in third with $13.4 million, tumbling a massive 61% in its sophomore frame. In ten days the Miley Cyrus starrer has grossed $56.1 million.

Paramount/DreamWorks Animation's animated hit comedy Monsters vs. Aliens added another $13.2 million to $163 million total, becoming the top grossing film of 2009. The film has quickly become the sixth biggest movie in DreamWorks Animation history, behind the Shrek trilogy, last summer's Kung Fu Panda with $215.4 million and 2005's Madagascar with $193.2 million.

Rounding out the top five was Universal's Fast & Furious, bringing in $12.3 million in its third weekend of release. In 17 days the $85 million budgeted pic has amassed $136.7 million. Internationally, the Vin Diesel starrer has been even more powerful, totaling $145 million and bringing its worldwide take to $281.7 million, easily the highest-grossing pic in franchise history.

Jason Statham may be the hardest working man in showbiz, even if he doesn't have big numbers to show for it. Starring in his tenth film in less than 3 years, the actor's latest effort Crank High Voltage debuted with a weak $6.5 million in sixth, averaging just $2,928 in 2,223 theaters. The R-rated pic opened below the original 2006 actioner Crank, which bowed with $10.5 million. The opening was significantly below last year's Death Race ($12.6 million). Reviews were, surprisingly, mostly positive.

The numbers, April 17-19, 2009

2009-04-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	17 Again	$24,070,000	3,255	$7,395	$24,070,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
2	State of Play	$14,099,000	2,803	$5,030	$14,099,000	--	1	Universal
3	Monsters vs. Aliens	$12,900,000	3,662	$3,523	$162,723,000	-40.9	4	Paramount
4	Hannah Montana The Movie	$12,666,000	3,118	$4,062	$56,133,000	-60.8	2	Buena Vista
5	Fast & Furious	$12,290,000	3,674	$3,345	$136,721,000	-54.9	3	Universal
6	Crank High Voltage	$6,510,000	2,223	$2,928	$6,510,000	--	1	Lionsgate
7	Observe and Report	$4,050,000	2,727	$1,485	$18,687,000	-63.2	2	Warner Bros.
8	Knowing	$3,480,000	2,405	$1,447	$73,701,000	-45.9	5	Summit
9	I Love You, Man	$3,370,000	2,202	$1,530	$64,657,000	-46.3	5	Paramount
10	The Haunting in Connecticut	$3,150,000	2,255	$1,397	$51,918,000	-46.6	4	Lionsgate

'Hannah Montana' outraces 'Fast and Furious' for the top spot with $34m, April 10-12, 2009

2009-04-13T00:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a big dose of Miley Cyrus the box office continued its torrid pace for the new year, finishing 63% better than last year's comparable frame as moviegoers flocked to the Disney starlet this Easter weekend. Universal's actioner Fast and Furious was bumped from its perch to second place, while DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens finished solidly in third. Thanks to great weekends from the three films the box office posted the biggest Easter weekend in history.

Following up her box office smash Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds -- which shattered records over last year's Superbowl weekend -- Disney's Miley Cyrus scored another major hit with her Hannah Montana The Movie, taking in an estimated $34 million in its debut frame.

Besting the record breaking 3D concert movie Best of Both Worlds, which took in $31.1 million in February of 2008, Hannah Montana The Movie mobilized the legion of Cyrus' preteen fans (mostly girls) and their ticket-paying parents to movie theaters, as the G-rated pic averaged an incredible $10,904 in 3,118 theaters. It was the second biggest opening ever over Easter weekend, behind only 2006's Scary Movie with $40.2 million, as well as the fifth biggest April debut in history.

Disney has been able to successfully translate Cyrus' appeal to the big screen unlike any of their other Disney channel stars. Hoping to work the same February weekend magic as Best of Both Worlds this year, the studio offered their Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert on February 27th with lackluster results. The film significantly underperformed albeit lofty expectations, debut with just $12.5 million and losing the weekend bout to the sophomore weekend of Madia Goes to Jail.

More than half of Hannah Montana the Movie's weekend total came from a staggering $17.3 million Good Friday haul, as families took advantage of school closings for the religious holiday. Reviews were mixed.

Falling 59% in its sophomore frame was last weekend's record breaking Fast & Furious, which followed up the biggest April debut in history with a $28.8 million Easter weekend. In ten days the $85 million budgeted pic has grossed $118 million, and should have no trouble surpassing the $144.5 million domestic haul of 2001's The Fast and the Furious to become the highest grossing ipc in the franchise.

DreamWorks Animation's 3D computer-animated pic Monsters vs. Aliens dropping a slight 31% in its third weekend to $22.6 million, bringing its domestic take to $141 million. At its current pace the $175 million budgeted comedy could come close to reaching $200 million.

Opening in fourth was Seth Rogen's mall cop comedy Observe and Report, which opened with $11 million this weekend. Debuting in 2,727 theaters, the Warner release averaged $4,085 per theater. Budgeted at a modest $18 million, the film received mixed reviews from critics.

In the "who actually greenlit this?" category, Fox's Dragonball Evolution debuted in a distant eighth with $4.7 million, averaging just $2,132 in 2,181 theaters. An adaptation of the Japaneses anime cartoon, the film was largely savaged by critics.

The numbers, April 10-12, 2009

2009-04-12T21:25:00.001-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Hannah Montana The Movie	$34,000,000	3,118	$10,904	$34,000,000	--	1	Buena Vista
2	Fast & Furious	$28,783,000	3,472	$8,290	$118,042,000	-59.4	2	Universal
3	Monsters vs. Aliens	$22,617,000	4,136	$5,468	$141,009,000	-30.6	3	Paramount
4	Observe and Report	$11,140,000	2,727	$4,085	$11,140,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
5	Knowing	$6,670,000	2,925	$2,280	$68,006,000	-18.1	4	Summit
6	I Love You, Man	$6,412,000	2,643	$2,426	$58,997,000	-17.0	4	Paramount
7	The Haunting in Connecticut	$5,710,000	2,721	$2,098	$46,297,000	-39.8	3	Lionsgate
8	Dragonball Evolution	$4,650,000	2,181	$2,132	$4,650,000	--	1	Fox
9	Adventureland	$3,433,000	1,876	$1,830	$11,450,000	-40.0	2	Miramax
10	Duplicity	$2,997,000	1,965	$1,525	$36,848,000	-28.2	4	Universal

'Fast & Furious' posts record $72.5m bow, April 3-5

2009-04-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes all it takes is one big reunion. Supercharging the first weekend of April Unversal's Fast & Furious blew past virtually all industry expectations with a record smashing $72.5 million. DreamWorks Animation's the animated pic Monsters vs. Aliens slipped 45% to second, with the two films helping push the marketplace to a nearly doubling of ticket sales compared to last year.

Universal hit the jackpot with the fourth installment of its Fast and the Furious franchise, reuniting the cast of the original 2001 action hit. Grossing a record-shattering $72.5 million in 3,461 theaters, the Vin Diesel starrer averaged an incredible $20,950. It was the biggest April debut in history, easily surpassing 2003's Anger Management with $42.2 million. It also blew past the $59.3 million debut of last week's Monsters vs. Aliens, becoming the biggest opening of 2009. Only 2004's Passion of the Christ opened bigger over the first four months of a year, pulling in $83.3 million in February of 2004.

Fast & Furious blew past all previous openings in the franchise, beating out 2001's The Fast and the Furious with $40.1 million, 2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious with $50.5 million and 2006's Tokyo Drift with $24 million. Diesel starred only in the first film (also the highest grossing at $144.5m), while co-star Paul Walker hung around for the second ($127.1m total). The third installment took place in Japan and featured an entirely new cast ($62.5m total).

Originally tapped for a June 12th release Universal smartly backed off from the over-saturated release date, staking claim on the first weekend of April. With little competition, a huge marketing blitz and increased traffic at theaters this year, it was no surprise Fast & Furious dominated the box office. But noone expected the sheer size of the opening, with $30.5 million in ticket sales coming on Friday alone. If estimates hold, the film will become Universal's biggest debut in history, surpassing 1997's The Lost World with $72.1 million (over the three day portion of Memorial Day weekend).

The numbers, April 3-5, 2009

2009-04-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Fast & Furious	$72,508,000	3,461	$20,950	$72,508,000	--	1	Universal
2	Monsters vs. Aliens	$33,510,000	4,109	$8,155	$105,700,000	-43.5	2	Paramount
3	The Haunting in Connecticut	$9,550,000	2,732	$3,496	$37,240,000	-58.5	2	Lionsgate
4	Knowing	$8,130,000	3,323	$2,447	$58,204,000	-44.7	3	Summit
5	I Love You, Man	$7,850,000	2,829	$2,775	$49,287,000	-38.1	3	Paramount
6	Adventureland	$6,010,000	1,862	$3,228	$6,010,000	--	1	Miramax
7	Duplicity	$4,300,000	2,522	$1,705	$32,376,000	-44.0	3	Universal
8	Race to Witch Mountain	$3,351,000	2,825	$1,186	$58,388,000	-42.2	4	Buena Vista
9	12 Rounds	$2,300,000	2,331	$987	$9,022,000	-56.8	2	Fox
10	Sunshine Cleaning	$1,879,000	479	$3,923	$4,775,000	47.5	4	Overture

'Monsters vs. Aliens' topples box office with $58.2m, March 27-29, 2009

2009-03-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a hefty marketing campaign and a little help from Uncle Sam, DreamWorks Animation's 3D animated pic Monsters vs. Aliens topped the box office with the biggest opening of 2009, pulling in $58.2 million over the weekend. Lionsgate's The Haunting in Connecticut debuted solidly in second with $23 million, helping the top ten films gross $135 million, up a whopping 58% from last year's comparable frame.

Nabbing the lucrative March release period usually reserved for Fox's animation studio Bluesky Studios (who instead moved their Ice Age 3 to the July 4th weekend), DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens delighted audiences to the tune of $58.2 million in its debut, averaging a stout $14,181 in 4,104 theaters. Helping those gaudy per theater numbers were 1,550 3D equipped theaters charging an extra few dollars per ticket.

Budgeted at a hefty $165 million, the film featured a massive marketing campaign that tipped off with this year's Superbowl ad in 3D. Solid reviews and heavy rotation television ads ensured a strong $16.8 million Friday bow, but strong word of mouth and a lack of family competitors saw ticket sales surge 45% on Saturday to $24.4 million. The debut bested Warner's Watchmen, which opened at the beginning of March with $55.2 million. For a studio heavily dependent on sequel revenue, the computer-animated release was the second largest opening ever for a non-sequel pic, behind only Kung Fu Panda's $60.2 million bow last June. The debut was also the third biggest ever in March, behind only 2007's 300 ($70.9m) and 2006's Ice Age: The Meltdown ($68m).

Lionsgate's horror/thriller The Haunting in Connecticut surpassed industry estimates with a strong $23 million bow, averaging an impressive $8,422 from 2,732 theaters. It was the studio's biggest horror debut outside of the Saw franchise. Reviews for the PG-13 release were universally poor.

Last week's champ Knowing slipped just 40% in its sophomore frame to $14.7 million, bringing the Nic Cage pic's ten-day cume to $46.2 million. At its current pace the film should hit $75 million by the end of its run.

Paramount's comedy I Love You, Man slipped only 29% to $12.6 million, bringing its ten-day total to $37 million.

Universal's romantic comedy Duplicity fell 46% to $7.6 million, bringing its cume to $25.6 million. Starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, the film will have trouble reaching $50 million domestic.

Thanks to the monster debut of Monsters vs. Aliens, Disney's reboot Race to Witch Mountain took a 56% hit in sales to $5.6 million. In 17 days the Dwayne Johnson starrer has grossed $53.3 million.

Debuting in seventh was the weekend's only other wide release debut, the Fox actioner 12 Rounds. Starring wrestler John Cena, the PG-13 release earned just $5.3 million this weekend, below his own debut film The Marine with $7.1 million.

Thanks to Monsters' huge debut, the top ten films grossed an estimated $135.1 million, up a staggering 58% from last year's comparable frame.

The numbers, March 27-29, 2009

2009-03-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Monsters vs. Aliens	$58,200,000	4,104	$14,181	$58,200,000	--	1	Paramount
2	The Haunting in Connecticut	$23,010,000	2,732	$8,422	$23,010,000	--	1	Lionsgate
3	Knowing	$14,700,000	3,337	$4,405	$46,215,000	-40.3	2	Summit
4	I Love You, Man	$12,600,000	2,717	$4,637	$37,007,000	-29.3	2	Paramount
5	Duplicity	$7,556,000	2,579	$2,930	$25,639,000	-45.9	2	Universal
6	Race to Witch Mountain	$5,637,000	3,268	$1,725	$53,295,000	-55.9	3	Buena Vista
7	12 Rounds	$5,300,000	2,331	$2,274	$5,300,000	--	1	Fox
8	Watchmen	$2,755,000	2,010	$1,371	$103,296,000	-59.5	4	Warner Bros.
9	Taken	$2,700,000	1,961	$1,377	$137,074,000	-33.5	9	Fox
10	The Last House on the Left	$2,611,000	2,251	$1,160	$28,459,000	-54.8	3	Universal

'Knowing' forcasts big box office victory with $24.8m bow, March 20-22, 2009

2009-03-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

Rebounding from last year's action flop Bangkok Dangerous Nicolas Cage posted the eleventh No. 1 opening of his career with his doomsday thriller Knowing, which easily outpaced the weekend's two other debuts I Love You, Man and Duplicity.

Nicolas Cage's Knowing led all films with a strong $24.8 million debut, averaging $7,447 in a wide 3,332 theaters, giving upstart Summit Entertainment (who produced last year's smash hit Twilight) another No. 1 release. Despite poor reviews Summit managed to lure moviegoers to the PG-13 release with a huge marketing blitz that appealed to the Over 25 demographic (nearly two-thirds of the audience was 25 or older).

Opening in second was the well-received comedy I Love You, Man, which debuted in second with $18 million. Released by Paramount and co-produced with DreamWorks, the R-rated Paul Rudd-Jason Segal starrer averaged a solid $6,641 from 2,711 theaters. The opening was slightly below Rudd's most recent effort Role Models, which bowed with $19.2 million last November. It was slightly better than Segal's Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which opened last spring with $17.7 million.

Debuting in third was Julia Roberts and Clive Owen's romantic comedy caper Duplicity, which took in $14.4 million in 2,574 theaters. Averaging $5,595 per theater, the Universal pic saw a strong 27% uptick in sales from Friday to Saturday, indicating strong word of mouth. The opening was significantly stronger than Roberts' co-starring role in Charlie Wilson's War, which bowed with $9.6 million in 2007.

Last week's champ Race to Witch Mountain slipped 47% in its sophomore frame to $13 million, bringing the Disney adventure's ten day take to $44.7 million. At its current pace the film should break $80 million domestic, though it should see a heftier drop next weekend when DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens makes its anticipated debut.

Rounding out the top five was Warner's comic adaptation Watchmen, which tumbled another massive 62% to $6.8 million. Following a 67% loss in its sophomore frame, clearly word of mouth has been a struggle for the nearly three-hour epic. In 17 days the $150 million budgeted pic has amassed $98.1 million. It will have a hard time surpassing $115 million domestic.

Despite three major new releases, the top ten films grossed $94.3 million, down 1% from last year's comparable frame when Fox's Horton Hears A Who held onto the top spot with $24.6 million.

The numbers, March 20-22, 2009

2009-03-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Knowing	$24,813,000	3,332	$7,447	$24,813,000	--	1	Summit
2	I Love You, Man	$18,005,000	2,711	$6,641	$18,005,000	--	1	Paramount
3	Duplicity	$14,402,000	2,574	$5,595	$14,402,000	--	1	Universal
4	Race to Witch Mountain	$13,004,000	3,187	$4,080	$44,715,000	-46.7	2	Buena Vista
5	Watchmen	$6,725,000	3,510	$1,916	$98,065,000	-62.3	3	Warner Bros.
6	The Last House on the Left	$5,921,000	2,402	$2,465	$24,047,000	-58.1	2	Universal
7	Taken	$4,100,000	2,661	$1,541	$133,139,000	-37.6	8	Fox
8	Slumdog Millionaire	$2,700,000	2,067	$1,306	$137,202,000	-46.0	19	Fox Searchlight
9	Madea Goes to Jail	$2,510,000	1,835	$1,368	$87,208,000	-50.9	5	Lionsgate
10	Coraline	$2,143,000	1,431	$1,498	$72,803,000	-21.2	7	Focus

'Race to Witch Mountain' knocks off 'Watchmen' with $25m debut, March 13-15, 2009

2009-03-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

*Correction: I misspelled Watchmen director Zack Snyder earlier (thanks Terry).
Disney's family adventure Race to Witch Mountain unseated Warner's superhero epic Watchmen, landing a solid $25 million opening this weekend. Universal's The Last House on the Left debuted in third with $14.6 million, while Fox Searchlight's Miss March opened a distant tenth with $2.3 million. However, given the massive 67% drop in sales for Watchmen, as well as solid but not overly strong openings from the three newcomers, the box office slipped below last year's comparable frame for the first time in six weeks.

Disney successfully restarted its old Witch Mountain franchise thanks to star Dwayne Johnson, who notched the sixth No. 1 opening of his career. Knocking off Watchmen from its one week perch at the top, the PG-rated pic averaged a strong $7,844 in 3,187 theaters. The opening was slightly better than Johnson's previous family-friendly collaboration with director Andy Fickman The Game Plan, which bowed to $23 million on its way to $90.6 million domestic. Reviews were mostly poor, with just 39% of critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com giving the film a recommendation rating.

Warner's Watchmen followed up the biggest weekend of 2009 with a huge 67% slide in its sophomore frame, finishing with just $18.1 million. Despite solid reviews the film's lengthy running time and apparently lukewarm word of mouth seems ready to doom the film to a disappointing domestic finish. In ten days the $150 million budgeted comic adaptation has grossed $86 million, and seems to have failed in luring fans outside of its core male demographic. At its current pace the Zack Snyder directed pic will have trouble breaking $120 million domestic.

Universal's horror thriller The Last House on the Left debuted in third with $14.7 million, averaging a strong $6,105 in 2,401 theaters. Thanks to a hefty marketing campaign the remake of Wes Craven's 1972 classic should earn $35-40 million.

Liam Neeson's thriller Taken fell a top ten best 9% in its seventh week of release, bringing in another impressive $6.7 million this weekend. The modestly budgeted Fox release will likely be the sleeper hit of the entire year, and its cume now stands at an incredible $126.8 million. At its current pace the film should have no problem surpassing $140 million domestic.

Lionsgate's Madea Goes to Jail fell 40% to $5.1 million, bringing its cume to a very strong $83.2 million.

Oscar darling Slumdog Millionaire fell just 26% to $5 million, pushing its cume to $132.6 million.

Rounding out the top ten was Fox Searchlight's sex comedy Miss March, which took in $2.4 million in 1,742 theaters. The raunchy pic was severely beaten down by critics.

Thanks to the massive drop in sales for Watchmen, the top ten films grossed an estimated $85.5 million, down 16% from last year's comparable frame when Fox/Blue Sky Studio's Horton Hears A Who opened with $45 million.

The numbers, March 13-15, 2009

2009-03-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Race to Witch Mountain	$25,000,000	3,187	$7,844	$25,000,000	--	1	Buena Vista
2	Watchmen	$18,070,000	3,611	$5,004	$86,005,000	-67.3	2	Warner Bros.
3	The Last House on the Left	$14,658,000	2,401	$6,105	$14,658,000	--	1	Universal
4	Taken	$6,650,000	2,858	$2,327	$126,833,000	-9.3	7	Fox
5	Madea Goes to Jail	$5,130,000	2,203	$2,329	$83,209,000	-39.9	4	Lionsgate
6	Slumdog Millionaire	$5,025,000	2,578	$1,949	$132,625,000	-26.2	18	Fox Searchlight
7	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	$3,100,000	2,281	$1,359	$137,767,000	-25.2	9	Sony
8	He's Just Not That Into You	$2,900,000	1,890	$1,534	$88,999,000	-27.8	6	Warner Bros.
9	Coraline	$2,655,000	1,768	$1,502	$69,144,000	-18.5	6	Focus
10	Miss March	$2,350,000	1,742	$1,349	$2,350,000	--	1	Fox Searchlight

The numbers, March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Watchmen	$55,214,334	3,611	$15,291	$55,214,334	--	1	Warner Bros.
2	Madea Goes to Jail	$8,532,412	2,151	$3,967	$76,237,739	-47.3	3	Lionsgate
3	Taken	$7,334,814	3,016	$2,432	$117,933,922	-25.6	6	Fox
4	Slumdog Millionaire	$6,808,383	2,890	$2,356	$125,324,813	-43.4	17	Fox Searchlight
5	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	$4,146,316	2,558	$1,621	$133,588,995	-26.0	8	Sony
6	He's Just Not That Into You	$4,017,326	2,445	$1,643	$84,644,583	-33.2	5	Warner Bros.
7	Coraline	$3,255,852	1,959	$1,662	$65,627,777	-38.1	5	Focus
8	Confessions of a Shopaholic	$3,100,298	2,290	$1,354	$38,335,114	-33.1	4	Buena Vista
9	Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience	$2,832,454	1,276	$2,220	$16,838,775	-77.4	2	Buena Vista
10	Fired Up	$2,478,381	1,798	$1,378	$13,238,432	-33.0	3	Sony

'Madea' holds off 'Jonas Brothers' with $16.5m, Feb. 27-March 1, 2009

2009-03-02T00:22:00.000-08:00

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail held off a strong debut from Disney's Jonas Brothers as well as a huge bump in sales for Fox Searchlight's Oscar juggernaut Slumdog Millionaire, topping the box office for the second straight weekend. Meanwhile, the box office continued its torrid pace for the new year, as the country's economic woes seem to be boosting movie ticket sales (nytimes: "In Downturn, Americans Flock to the Movies"), up another 10% from last year's comparable frame.

With Disney's 3D concert Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience expected to crush the competition, it was Madea who got the last laugh, as Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail topped the box office for the second straight weekend with $16.5 million, or a 60% drop from last weekend. In ten days the Lionsgate hit has grossed an impressive $64.9 million, already becoming Perry's highest grossing movie ever. 2006's Madea's Family Reunion took in $63.3 million domestic. At its current pace, look for Madea to finish with $85 million by the end of its run.

Because of the record-breaking launch of Miley Cyrus' smash hit Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour last February ($31 million debut), Disney had hoped to get even better results from their Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. Analysts projected an opening in the $30-40 million range. Instead, the poorly-reviewed 3D film opened well short of that mark with $12.7 million for second place. Regardless of expectations though, the film averaged a strong $9,992 in 1,271 3D theaters. The numbers are an even stronger testament to how incredible last year's Hannah Montana performed, as that G-rated concert opened in virtually half the theaters as Jonas Brothers, while averaging a jaw-dropping $45,561 per theater. Expect a quick exit from the top ten for the sibling trio.

As expected, the biggest beneficiary of last weekend's Oscars was Best Film winner Slumdog Millionaire, which enjoyed a 45% spike in sales thanks to the added buzz as well as an additional 699 theaters. The $15 million Fox Searchlight sensation took in $12.2 million in third, bringing its 16 week cume to an incredible $115.1 million.

Crossing the $100 million mark this weekend was Fox's sleeper hit Taken, which grossed $10 million bringing its five week cume to $107.9 million.

Razzie front-runner Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li debuted in eighth with $4.7 million, as the Fox videogame adaptation failed to shrug off a big fat donut on Rottentomatoes.com (no critic polled by the site gave the film a recommendation rating). The film still managed to eek out $4,093 from 1,136 theaters nationwide.

The numbers, Feb. 27-March 1, 2009

2009-03-01T20:14:00.001-08:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Madea Goes to Jail	$16,500,000	2,052	$8,041	$64,850,000	-59.8	2	Lionsgate
2	Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience	$12,700,000	1,271	$9,992	$12,700,000	--	1	Buena Vista
3	Slumdog Millionaire	$12,150,000	2,943	$4,128	$115,148,000	44.9	16	Fox Searchlight
4	Taken	$9,950,000	3,089	$3,221	$107,882,000	-11.8	5	Fox
5	He's Just Not That Into You	$5,875,000	2,858	$2,056	$78,525,000	-31.4	4	Warner Bros.
6	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	$5,600,000	2,698	$2,076	$128,106,000	-17.9	7	Sony
7	Coraline	$5,252,000	2,063	$2,546	$61,145,000	-54.1	4	Focus
8	Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li	$4,650,000	1,136	$4,093	$4,650,000	--	1	Fox
9	Confessions of a Shopaholic	$4,490,000	2,534	$1,772	$33,662,000	-33.4	3	Buena Vista
10	Fired Up	$3,800,000	1,811	$2,098	$10,137,000	-30.7	2	Sony

'Madea Goes to Jail' whoops box office with $41.1m, Feb. 20-22, 2009

2009-02-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

On a night that saw Fox Searchlight's Slumdog Millionaire sweep the Oscars with eight awards including Best Film and Best Director, it was Tyler Perry who swept the box office, as his latest Madea saga Madea Goes to Jail posted the fifth biggest February opening of all-time with a whopping $41.1 million.

The staggering ticket sales were more than the next four competitors combined, including Slumdog Millionaire in fifth, as the Lionsgate release averaged a jaw-dropping $20,236 in just 2,032 theaters, giving Madea the third biggest opening ever for a film showing in under 2,500 theaters. 2002's 8 Mile took in $51.2 million in 2,470 theaters, while 1993's Jurassic Park bowed with $47 million in 2,404 theaters.

The debut of Madea Goes to Jail was by far the biggest of actor/writer/director Tyler Perry's short but hugely successful career, surpassing Madea's Family Reunion which bowed with $30 million in 2006. Even more striking is the fact that Jail pulled in more this weekend than the entire run of Perry's The Family That Preys, which finished with $37.1 million last year.

Holdovers dominated the rest of the top ten with Liam Neeson's thriller Taken continuing its strong run with $11.4 million. In just four weeks the sleeper hit has brought in $95.1 million, and should break the century mark by next weekend.

Focus Features' family film Coraline slipped just 25% to third with $11 million, bringing the stop-motion pic's three week cume to $53.4 million. In fourth was the romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You, which fell 56% from Valentine's Day weekend to $8.5 million. In three weeks the film has grossed an impressive $70.1 million.

In fifth and sure to see an even bigger spike in sales in the coming week was Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire, which rode the huge Oscar buzz to a 10% increase in sales to $8 million. The Best Film winner has now amassed $98 million domestic and should see a major boost in theaters and sales in the upcoming week.

Opening poorly in ninth was the comedy Fired Up!, which took in $6 million.

Other Best Picture nominees that fared well this weekend were The Reader with $2.8 million, hot off Kate Winslet's Best Actress win, Milk with a 25% increase in sales to $1.1 million, thanks to Best Actor winner Sean Penn, and Frost/Nixon, which rose 31% to $678,000. The last Best Film nominee The Case of Benjamin Button hasn't gotten the Oscar boost Paramount was hoping for, earning $1.2 million bringing its cume to $124.2 million.

The numbers, Feb. 20-22, 2009

2009-02-22T21:21:00.001-08:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Madea Goes to Jail	$41,120,000	2,032	$20,236	$41,120,000	--	1	Lionsgate
2	Taken	$11,400,000	3,102	$3,675	$95,135,000	-40.0	4	Fox
3	Coraline	$11,030,000	2,155	$5,118	$53,393,000	-25.4	3	Focus
4	He's Just Not That Into You	$8,540,000	3,050	$2,800	$70,083,000	-56.2	3	Warner Bros.
5	Slumdog Millionaire	$8,050,000	2,244	$3,587	$98,020,000	10.5	15	Fox Searchlight
6	Friday the 13th	$7,830,000	3,105	$2,522	$55,002,000	-80.7	2	Warner Bros.
7	Confessions of a Shopaholic	$7,020,000	2,507	$2,800	$27,654,000	-53.4	2	Buena Vista
8	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	$7,000,000	2,835	$2,469	$121,380,000	-36.3	6	Sony
9	Fired Up!	$6,000,000	1,810	$3,315	$6,000,000	--	1	Sony
10	The International	$4,450,000	2,364	$1,882	$17,017,000	-52.3	2	Sony

'Friday the 13th' remake slashes up Valentine's Day weekend with record $42.2m, Feb. 13-15, 2009

2009-02-15T23:26:00.000-08:00

Jason Voorhees made his solo comeback a big one over Valentine's Day and President's Day weekend as the Newline/Warner Bros. remake Friday the 13th posted the biggest debut in history for a horror film with a massive $42.2 million.

Budgeted at a mere $19 million, the remake of the 1980 horror film that started the franchise blew past the debuts of all eleven previous Jason pics, including the $36.4 million bow of 2003's Freddy Vs. Jason. Produced by Michael Bay, the New Line-Paramount co-production (released by Warner) has already become the second highest grossing film in the franchise, surpassing the original Friday the 13th's $39.7 million total gross, and behind only Freddy vs. Jason's $82.6 million domestic haul. Bay already has a Nightmare on Elmstreet reboot in the works.

Averaging an incredible $13,605 in 3,105 theaters, Friday the 13th also posted the best R-rated opening since last summer's Wanted with $50.9 million, as well as the 15th biggest R-rated debut ever.

The massive debut helped the marketplace bring in over $185 million over the Friday-Sunday frame, making it the biggest President's Day weekend in history.

Last week's champ He's Just Not That Into You fell 29% over the Valentine's Day weekend finishing with a strong $19.6 million. In ten days, the romantic comedy has grossed $55.1 million. Look for the film to break $90 million domestic.

Debuting in fourth was Buena Vista's comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic, which beat estimates with a strong $15.4 million bow. Based on the best-selling book of the same name, the Isla Fisher starrer averaged $6,145 from 2,507 theaters despite garnering by far the worst reviews of the weekend. With nearly three-quarters of its attendance being female, look for severe drops in the coming weeks.

Holding strong in fifth was the acclaimed stop-motion pic Coraline, which fell just 9% to $15.3 million over the three-day frame. The Focus Features release has amassed $35.6 million in both traditional and 3D theaters, and should have no trouble breaking $75 million domestic.

Poor marketing, a bad premise and lukewarm reviews condemned Sony's banking thriller The International to seventh with $10 million. Starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, the $50 million budgeted pic averaged $4,230 in 2,364 theaters. Look for a quick exit out of the top ten for German director Tom Tykwer's (Run Lola Run) film.

The numbers, Feb. 13-15, 2009

2009-02-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Friday the 13th	$42,250,000	3,105	$13,607	$42,250,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
2	He's Just Not That Into You	$19,610,000	3,175	$6,176	$55,078,000	-29.4	2	Warner Bros.
3	Taken	$19,250,000	3,109	$6,192	$77,925,000	-6.3	3	Fox
4	Confessions of a Shopaholic	$15,406,000	2,507	$6,145	$15,406,000	--	1	Buena Vista
5	Coraline	$15,323,000	2,320	$6,605	$35,585,000	-9.1	2	Focus
6	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	$11,700,000	2,965	$3,946	$110,515,000	7.5	5	Sony
7	The International	$10,000,000	2,364	$4,230	$10,000,000	--	1	Sony
8	The Pink Panther 2	$9,000,000	3,245	$2,773	$22,321,000	-22.3	2	Sony
9	Slumdog Millionaire	$7,150,000	1,634	$4,376	$86,546,000	-0.4	14	Fox Searchlight
10	Push	$6,900,000	2,313	$2,983	$19,294,000	-31.5	2	Summit

'He's Just Not That Into You' dominates weekend with $27.5m debut, Feb. 6-8, 2009

2009-02-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a strong headline opening from the romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You, three more $10+ million debuts, as well as very small drops from the rest of the top ten, the marketplace posted a huge 41% increase in ticket sales over last year's comparable frame. Overall, the top 20 releases took in nearly $150 million in North America, giving the box office a huge confidence boost in the new year.

Leading the charge this weekend was Warner Bros.'s romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You, which debuted at No. 1 with a powerful $27.5 million. Averaging a strong $8,650 in 3,175 theaters, the Jennifer Aniston-Ben Affleck starrer posted the third biggest opening of 2009 thus far, nehind only Paul Blart: Mall Cop's $31.8m and Gran Torino's $29.5m.

Produced by the now defunct New Line (which folded back into parent company Warner Bros. following a horrendous couple of years), the film was heavily marketed just in time for Valentine's weekend festivities. Featuring a heavyweight ensemble cast including Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore, the PG-13 release shrugged off mixed-to-poor reviews while appealing to both women and date crowds. Look for continued success heading into Valentine's Day weekend.

Last week's surprise champ Taken slipped just 18% in its sophomore frame to $20.3 million, giving Fox and Liam Neeson the first sleeper hit of the new year. In just ten days the PG-13 action thriller has grossed $53.4 million, and if word of mouth continues to remain strong the film has an outside shot at breaking $100 million domestic, a remarkable achievement for a film many thought sounded like your run-of-the-mill February studio dump.

Laika Studio's acclaimed stop-motion film Coraline debuted in third with an estimated $16.3 million, averaging an encouraging $7,105 in 2,299 theaters. The Henry Selick (A Nightmare Before Christmas) film, released by Focus Features, played in both 3D and non-3D capable theaters, with over 60% of receipts coming from high margin 3D venues. Critics largely heralded the stop-motion pic, which opened nearly twice as strong as 1993's A Nightmare Before Christmas ($8m, $74.6m total including re-release). Tim Burton's Corpse Bride opened stronger with a $19.1 million wide release debut, but finished with just $53.3 million domestic.

Steve Martin's The Pink Panther 2 debuted in fourth with $12 million, falling well short of the $20.1 million debut of its 2006 predecessor. The poorly-reviewed Sony comedy averaged just $3,700 in 3,243 theaters, and will likely finish far behind the first film's $80.2 million domestic and $159 million worldwide haul.

Rounding out the top five was Kevin James' hit comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which inched closer to $100 million with another strong $11 million weekend. Falling just 21%, the $26 million budgeted Sony has shown some of the strongest legs for a comedy in quite some time, amassing $97 million in just four weeks.

Hot off their sensational vampire romance hit Twilight, Summit Entertainment went towards the sci-fi genre with its thriller Push, which debuted modestly in sixth with $10.2 million. The poorly-reviewed release starring Dakota Fanning averaged just $4,410 from 2,313 theaters.

Fox Searchlight's Oscar-nominated sensation Slumdog Millionaire continued its remarkable run falling just 3% to $7.4 million. In 13 weeks the film has amassed $77.4 million, surpassing Sideways's $71.5 million gross to become the studio's second biggest release in history. Only last year's Juno has grossed more with $143.5 million domestic.