by Roy on 16 Nov 2009 | Comments 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 this weekend, pulling in $4.2 million in 8th place for a $103.9 million total in its eighth week of release. Read»

by Roy on 9 Nov 2009 | Comments The holiday box office season was kicked off to a chilly start with the debut of Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol. Despite having Jim Carrey take on the lead and being pushed with the Disney Digital 3D tag, the performance-captured film was only able to gross a disappointing $31 million to take the top spot.

Considering its $200 million budget and Madagascar 2’s $63 million debut in the same frame last year, there wasn’t much merriment coming from Disney’s offices. However, Zemeckis’ last mo-capped Christmas film The Polar Express also had a shaky $23.3 million start before chugging to a $160+ million domestic gross over its holiday season run. Carol doesn’t have much direct competition through the winter season either, so it may find a foothold yet.

The Men Who Stare at Goats bowed above expectations with a decent $13.3 million haul for 3rd place. The Fourth Kind, meanwhile, came in right behind in 4th with $12.5 million. Richard Kelly’s The Box however was unable to find an audience, with the esoteric director’s third feature debuting in 6th place with a sub-par $7.9 million. As for last weekend’s number 1, Michael Jackson’s This Is It dropped to second with $14 million, while Paranormal Activity rounded out the top 5 with $8.6 million to come just short of the $100 million mark. Read»

by Roy on 2 Nov 2009 | Comments Michael Jackson’s concert documentary This Is It won the top spot at the box office, grossing an estimated $21.3 million over the weekend to bring its five-day total to $32.5 million.

The total fell well short of expectations, which started out modest but ballooned after strong pre-sales and a $7.4 million Wednesday haul. It seemed most theatergoers itching to see the late King of Pop do his thing one more time showed up on opening day though; Thursday numbers fell to only $3.7 million. The doc did gross $68.5 million in foreign ticket sales however, which brings its 5-day worldwide total to an impressive $101 million. Though This Is It wasn’t able to top the single day or opening weekend figures of Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds, its worldwide sales have already topped the Disney pop princess’ lifetime tally to become the “biggest concert movie of all time” that it was promised to be.

Paranormal Activity continued its strong run, finishing second with $16.5 million. Its total sits at a lofty $84.8 million after 6 weeks. Saw VI meanwhile continued to disappoint, bleeding out to 5th place with $5.6 million for a $22.8 million two-week total. Rounding out the top 5 was Law Abiding Citizen in 3rd with $7.3 million and Couples Retreat in 4th with $6.1 million. Read»

by Roy on 25 Oct 2009 | Comments Well, it looks like the Saw franchise’s reign of horror has lost a bit of its foothold in the late October box office. Micro-budgeted Paranormal Activity continued to steamroll the competition in theaters, finally taking the top spot in its fifth weekend of release with an estimated $22 million.

That brings Paranormal’s total to a hefty $62.5 million. To put that into perspective, that’s over 4000 times more than the $15,000 it cost to make. Ridiculous. Saw VI pulled in a not-disgusting $14.8 million in its 2nd place debut, but that’s less than half of what Saw V made in its bow last year in the same frame. Lionsgate execs probably paled visibly today after hearing that Paramount is considering a Paranormal Activity 2 (which, for the record, is probably about as good an idea as Blair Witch 2 was). As tired as I am of Jigsaw, I can at least see why the Saw formula works in a franchise. There’s a certain novelty to Paranormal Activity that I’m not sure can be captured in a sequel.

Meanwhile, Where the Wild Things Are, last week’s number 1, plummeted 56% to 3rd with a $14.4 million haul. It’s $54 million total is still well shy of its $100 million budget. Law Abiding Citizen dropped to 4th with $12.7 million, and Couples Retreat rounded out the top 5 with an $11.1 million weekend. Read»

by Roy on 19 Oct 2009 | Comments Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Things Are took over the box office this past weekend, grossing an estimated $32.5 million for the top spot in its much-anticipated debut.

The total was a little shy of ambitious estimates after a surprisingly strong Friday and Saturday, but nonetheless is still a strong bow for Warner Bros. It was an uncharacteristically active weekend, with three different films crossing the $20 million mark. You have to go all the way back to 2004’s Shark Tale to find the last time a film managed that in this frame.

Law Abiding Citizen opened at number 2 with $21.3 million, but once again it was Paranormal Activity that comes away with the most impressive victory. Expanding to 760 theaters, the ultra low-budget horror film pulled in $20.2 million for the number 3 spot, or a staggering $26,530 per-theater average in its fourth weekend of release. Couples Retreat held on to fourth place with $17.9 million over its second weekend, and The Stepfather opened in 5th place with a so-so $12.3 million. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, meanwhile, crossed the $100 million mark with an $8.1 million weekend, bringing its total to $108.3 million. Read»

by Roy on 13 Oct 2009 | Comments Vince Vaughn still knows how to attract a crowd. His new comedy Couples Retreat pulled in a record-setting $34.3 million at the box office to come in at number one over the weekend, becoming the highest grossing Columbus Day weekend opener ever.

Paranormal Activity, which has been getting all sorts of buzz thanks to a strong marketing campaign and Paramount’s “demand it!” release scheme, expanded to 160 theaters and absolutely packed the houses. It pulled in $7.9 million for the number 4 spot, which is an astounding $49,379 per-theater average, especially considering the number of screens it played. It set the record for highest grossing movie playing at under 200 theaters, and don’t be surprised to see the micro-budgeted horror film expand to even more venues soon to scare up even more dollars.

Zombieland held over well from last weekend, dropping to number 2 with $14.8 million. Its $47.6 million total is already spawning talks about a possible sequel, as well as close to making it the highest grossing zombie movie ever (2004’s Dawn of the Dead currently holds the title with $59 million). Meanwhile, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is still holding on strong, finishing third with $11.5 million in its fourth weekend of release. Toy Story / Toy Story 2 3D rounded out the top 5 with $7.8 million. Read»