Moviegoers lined up to see ex-Jedis Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson
duke it out sending their new science fiction actioner Jumper
to number one over the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend. The dance drama Step Up 2 The Streets
debuted in second place while the fantasy adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles
premiered in third. For the first time ever, three films opened to more than
$15M each over the Friday-to-Sunday portion of the Presidents’ Day holiday
frame.
Landing in the number one spot, Fox’s sci-fi action entry Jumper
easily led the field opening to an estimated $27.2M over three days. Playing in
3,428 theaters, the PG-13 pic averaged a muscular $7,942 and has taken in $33.9M
since its Thursday launch. The Christensen-Jackson film met with horrible
reviews from critics, but audiences didn’t care and instead responded to the
slick marketing campaign. Including the Monday holiday, the $85M pic should bank
just under $40M in its first five days of release.
Buena Vista swiped the second place spot with its dance sequel Step Up 2 The Streets
which opened with an impressive $19.7M over three days from 2,470 sites. The
PG-13 teen tale played in about 1,000 fewer theaters than Jumper but
generated a similar average of $7,962. Since debuting on Valentine’s Day,
Streets has grossed $26.3M. According to studio research, young women led the
way with 60% of the crowd being female and 65% being under the age of 25.
Although it had a different release pattern, the sequel’s opening basically
matched the $20.7M bow of 2006’s Step Up
which was a summer title and featured a different cast. Rather than relying on
starpower, Buena Vista focused on keeping the music and dancing as updated as
possible with a marketing campaign that made full use of the hit song "Low" from
Flo Rida which has been the nation’s number one song for the last eight
consecutive weeks. Look for the studio to continue to develop the Step Up
brand just like Universal did with its Bring It On property which
continues to spawn lucrative direct-to-DVD titles.
Close behind in third was the effects-heavy fantasy pic The Spiderwick Chronicles
with an estimated $19.1M from 3,847 theaters for a solid $4,960 average.
Paramount’s PG-rated adventure has grossed $21.5M since its Thursday debut and
is expected to reach $24.4M by the end of the holiday weekend on Monday. Aimed
at family audiences, Spiderwick should continue to have its target
demographic all to itself over the next two weeks when many schools take their
winter breaks as no other kidpics will open. Critics gave a very positive
response. The Friday-to-Sunday tally was just a bit behind the $22.6M bow of
last year’s kids fantasy pic Bridge to Terabithia
which debuted over the same holiday frame before finding its way to $82.3M.
The critically-panned adventure comedy Fool’s Gold
held up reasonably well after its number one debut last week. Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson
witnessed a drop of 39% to an estimated $13.1M pushing the ten-day tally to a
sturdy $42M. Budgeted at $70M, the Warner Bros. flick should find its way to
$70-75M domestically.
Opening in fifth with the smallest debut among the frame’s four new releases
was the romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe
with an estimated $9.7M over the Friday-to-Sunday period and $12.8M since its
Thursday bow. Playing in 2,204 locations, the PG-13 pic averaged a moderate
$4,394 over three days. Adult women made up the primary audience as 67% of the
crowd was female and 54% was over 30. The $24M film earned generally good
reviews from critics.
The holiday weekend’s four new releases grossed a combined $75.7M over the
Friday-to-Sunday session and $94.4M since Thursday. This year marked the first
time that every new wide release opened on the Thursday Valentine’s Day holiday
to get an early jump on the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend.
Falling from second to sixth was
Martin Lawrence‘s comedy
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
with an estimated $8.9M, down 45%, for a ten-day cume of $29.1M. The $35M
Universal release should end up with roughly $50M. Fox Searchlight’s indie
comedy Juno
followed with an estimated $4.6M, off a mere 17%, giving the Oscar-nominated pic
a stellar $124.1M to date. The Ellen Page hit has now spent nine consecutive
weeks in the top ten, the most for any film since last April’s Disturbia.
The Bucket List
kept bringing in business dipping only 22% to an estimated $4.1M for a $81.1M
total for Warner Bros. Plunging 68% in its third tour was Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
with an estimated $3.3M which bumped Disney’s cume up to $58.4M.
The ten spot saw a two-way tie between Katherine Heigl‘s 27 Dresses
and
Jessica Alba‘s horror pic The Eye
which collected an estimated $3.2M each. Fox’s comedy fell 41% and reached
$69.9M while Lionsgate’s supernatural thriller tumbled by 52% for a $26.3M cume
to date.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $112.8M over three days which was down
18% from last year’s record session when
Ghost Rider
opened at number one with $45.4M; but up 7% from 2006 when
Eight Below
debuted in the top spot with $20.2M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com
