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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»
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.
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