Box Office Guru Wrapup: Couples Rule the Charts
Major Activity for Paranormal.
Couples ruled the box office as Universal's
Couples Retreat
took top honors at the box office this weekend. But the real story was the
low-budget horror entry from Paramount,
Paranormal
Activity, which crashed the top five from only 159 theaters.
Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Kristen Bell and the rest of the ensemble cast of
Couples Retreat
landed, as expected, in the number one spot at the North American box office
this weekend. The tale of four couples going through intense comical therapy
grossed an estimated $35.3M this weekend from 3,000 theaters for a per screen
average of $11,780. If that number holds, it would be the sixth highest opening
weekend for the month of October, just ahead of a quadrilogy of Saw
films. Poor reviews didn't hurt the film as its well-known cast certainly
provided enough star power to make it the top choice for audiences. That and
being the only wide release this weekend as other studios opted to sit this
weekend out.
Falling a very reasonable 39% to second were the hunters of the living dead in Zombieland. The Sony release brought in another $15M this weekend, according to estimates, bringing its total to $47.8M. Look for a final total in the $90-100M range. Dropping a very slim 24% in its fourth lap was the animated 3D adventure Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The flying food flick ate up an estimated $12M this weekend bringing its cume to $96.2M. $150M is certainly within its reach
In fourth place this weekend, families continued to enjoy Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (3D) as the double feature brought in $7.7M, according to estimates, a fall of only 39% from last weekend. Impressive considering the number of years the two titles have been available on DVD. But the lure of 3D and the chance to see a preview for Toy Story 3 has opened the film to a whole new generation of moviegoers. Its cume from the rerelease stands at $22.7M.
Storming into the top five was the horror film Paranormal Activity which grossed an estimated $7M from only 159 for a per screen average of an astounding $44,440. The film, which cost a reported $11,000 to produce, has been gaining momentum with TV ads showing the audience reaction to what they're seeing on screen, making people believe they're in for a true scare. Do we have another Blair Witch Project on our hands? Almost exactly 10 years ago that low-budget horror film exploded onto screens grossing $1.5 from only 27 theaters in its opening weekend, giving it a per screen average of $56,002. Two weeks later it expanded nationwide and made $29.2M for a per screen average of $26,528 and become a cultural phenomenon. Already in its third weekend, Paranormal Activity is rolling out slower, but word-of-mouth is making this a must-see event.
In sixth place was the Bruce Willis sci-fi pic Surrogates which fell 43% in its third weekend to and estimated $4.1M. The film has grossed a disappointing $32.5M and seems headed for the DVD rack soon. Falling into seventh place in its second weekend was the Ricky Gervais dramedy The Invention of Lying which took in an estimated $3.4M, a drop of 52% from last weekend. Cume now stands at $12.7M. Good reviews haven't been helping the British comedian cross over into North American success. Look for the film to end up with a final gross in the $20-25M range.
Eighth place belonged to Drew Barrymore and the women of Whip It which fell 40% in its second weekend to an estimated $2.8M. Its cume stands at only $8.7M and won't make too much more before hitting the DVD shelves. In ninth place was was the latest from documentarian Michael Moore, Capitalism: A Love Story, which made an estimated $2.7M, a 39% decline from last weekend. The total for the film now stands at $9.1M. Rounding out the top 10 was Fame which fell 45% in its third outing to an estimated $2.5M, bringing its cume to $20M.
The top ten films grossed $92.6M which was up 14% from last year when Beverly Hills Chihuahua remained in the top spot in its second weekend with $17.5M; and up 15% from 2007 when Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? debuted at number one with $21.3M.
Author: Sujit Chawla, Box Office Guru!
General Disarray on 10-11-2009 03:08 PM
Even though it was a little underwhelming, I'm still happy to see Zombieland doing good business. Really thought that movie would have benefited from another 10-15 minutes running time, it just felt a little anemic, you can pretty much get the whole movie from the trailer.