2012 Destroys The Weekend Box Office
Roland Emmerich’s latest end-of-the-world flick 2012 not only destroyed the world on-screen, it destroyed the weekend box office too, with a tidal wave of money. The special effects extravaganza turned its Friday take of $23.7 million into an estimated $65 million weekend haul, becoming Emmerich’s second most successful opening to date (behind 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow) and obliterating nearly every box office analyst’s predictions.
To make it a truly global affair, 2012 pulled in an additional $160 million in foreign ticket sales, its three day worldwide total reaching a whopping $225 million. As for last weekend’s number 1, A Christmas Carol showed it may still have some legs yet as it dropped only 25.7% to the number 2 spot with $22.3 million, bringing its total to $63.3 million. Meanwhile, Precious jumped into the top 5 by expanding to 174 theaters. Its $6 million total was good enough for 4th place, though its impressive $35,000 per-theater average wasn’t able to claim the title of highest of the weekend. That honor fell to Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which brought in $260,000 in its 4 theater limited debut, or a $65,000 average.
The Men Who Stare at Goats finished narrowly in front of Precious for 3rd place with $6.2 million, while This Is It rounded out the top 5 with $5.1 million. And as a side note, Paranormal Activity finally crossed the $100 million mark this weekend, pulling in $4.2 million in 8th place for a $103.9 million total in its eighth week of release.
Pirate Radio floundered in its semi-wide release, reeling in $2.8 million for 11th place at 882 venues. Other limited release films that bowed this weekend include the Ben Foster-Woody Harrelson war drama The Messenger, which brought in $50,000 at 4 sites for a $12,500 average; the Joseph Gordon-Levitt-Lynn Collins romantic drama/thriller Uncertainty, which bowed with $12,200 at 1 New York City theater; and the Emmy Rossum-Zach Gilford teen drama Dare, which only managed $12,000 at 2 venues for a $6,000 per-theater average.
2012 scored massively this weekend without any real competition, but we’ll see how it holds up next week against teenage vampire drama New Moon, the second film in the Twilight franchise. Joining New Moon will be Sandra Bullock’s based-on-a-true-story sports drama The Blind Side and Sony’s animated comedy Planet 51. New Moon should easily win the weekend, and I’m guessing Planet 51 will finish just a little in front of The Blind Side. The specialty market will also see a trio of new releases, including Nicolas Cage’s much-buzzed about Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Pedro Almodovar’s latest Penelope Cruz-collaboration Broken Embraces, and John Woo’s Chinese historical epic Red Cliff. The record stands at 51 for 66.
Catch the top 12 below, or head on over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:
New releases highlighted in yellow
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | 2012 | Sony | $65,000,000 | - | 3,404 | - | $19,095 | $65,000,000 | $200 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | A Christmas Carol (2009) | BV | $22,325,000 | -25.7% | 3,683 | - | $6,062 | $63,289,000 | $200 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | The Men Who Stare at Goats | Over. | $6,200,000 | -51.2% | 2,453 | +10 | $2,528 | $23,376,000 | $25 | 2 |
| 4 | 12 | Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire | LGF | $6,090,000 | +225.2% | 174 | +156 | $35,000 | $8,915,000 | $10 | 2 |
| 5 | 2 | Michael Jackson’s This Is It | Sony | $5,100,000 | -61.2% | 3,037 | -444 | $1,679 | $68,211,000 | - | 3 |
| 6 | 4 | The Fourth Kind | Uni. | $4,744,000 | -61.2% | 2,530 | +3 | $1,875 | $20,588,000 | - | 2 |
| 7 | 7 | Couples Retreat | Uni. | $4,253,000 | -30.6% | 2,509 | -348 | $1,695 | $102,133,000 | $70 | 6 |
| 8 | 5 | Paranormal Activity | Par. | $4,200,000 | -49.3% | 2,712 | +154 | $1,549 | $103,847,000 | $0.015 | 8 |
| 9 | 8 | Law Abiding Citizen | Over. | $3,932,000 | -34.5% | 2,071 | -403 | $1,899 | $67,326,000 | $50 | 5 |
| 10 | 6 | The Box | WB | $3,185,000 | -57.9% | 2,635 | - | $1,209 | $13,206,000 | $30 | 2 |
| 11 | N | Pirate Radio | Focus | $2,869,000 | - | 882 | - | $3,253 | $2,869,000 | $50 | 1 |
| 12 | 9 | Where the Wild Things Are | WB | $2,415,000 | -42.2% | 2,090 | -666 | $1,156 | $73,437,000 | $100 | 5 |
Tags: 2012, A Christmas Carol, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Box Office, Broken Embraces, Dare, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Paranormal Activity, Pirate Radio, Planet 51, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Red Cliff, The Blind Side, The Boat That Rocked, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Messenger, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Uncertainty
