Unlike the Oscar-winning hit The Departed, Martin Scorsese and
Leonardo DiCaprio’s new crime thriller
Shutter Island
enjoyed back-to-back weekends at number one fending off competition from a pair
of new releases with respectable debuts. The police comedy
Cop Out bowed in
second while the horror remake
The Crazies
premiered in third as the overall box office remained strong showing healthy
gains over last year.
Paramount once again claimed the top spot with
Shutter Island
which dropped only 46% in its second weekend to an estimated $22.2M. The R-rated
mystery still boasted the best per-theater average of any film in wide release
with $7,393 from 3,003 sites. The total after ten days is a solid $75.1M.
Budgeted at $75M, Shutter could find its way to roughly $125M from North America
alone. The Departed, the previous collaboration between Scorsese and
DiCaprio, opened at number one in October 2006 but fell to second in its
sophomore frame losing the weekend to The Grudge 2. But it did have a
smaller drop declining by just 29% on its way to a $132.4M final.[rtimage]MapID=1198124&MapTypeID=2&photo=22&legacy=1[/rtimage]Bruce
Willis and Tracy Morgan took second place with their new action-comedy
Cop Out which opened
to an estimated $18.6M over the weekend. The Warner Bros. title played in 3,150
theaters averaging a good $5,894 per site from audiences that ignored the poor
reviews. The buddy cop flick marked the first film that director Kevin Smith did
not also write, and represented his career best opening. Though not a stellar
launch, Cop Out did give Willis one of his best debuts for a lead role in
recent years following disappointments like Perfect Strangers, 16
Blocks, and Hostage which all opened in the $10-12M
range.[rtimage]MapID=10012029&MapTypeID=2&photo=1&legacy=1[/rtimage]Finishing
with the bronze was the new fright flick
The Crazies
which debuted impressively with an estimated $16.5M. The Overture release
averaged a strong $6,670 from 2,477 theaters and played to a young male
audience. According to exit polls, the R-rated pic about a small town in which
residents mysteriously become homicidal maniacs skewed 56% male and 65% under
25. Reviews were quite positive for the $19M production.[rtimage]MapID=1205380&MapTypeID=2&photo=38&legacy=1[/rtimage]Audiences
were still flocking to see nine-time Oscar nominee
Avatar which eased by
a mere 14% to an estimated $14M. The James Cameron smash became the first film
in history to crack the $700M mark on Saturday, its 72nd day of release. The
mammoth domestic cume is now $706.9M. Overseas markets witnessed a 25% drop to
$36.1M boosting the international haul to $1.844 billion which is now more than
the entire $1.843 billion global gross for Titanic. Ticket prices, of
course, have changed a lot since 12 years ago. Worldwide, Avatar has now
banked $2.551 billion with more to come. This Friday, the Pandora pic will lose
a significant number of its 3D screens around the world when Tim Burton’s
Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp makes a colorful splash.
Dropping only 36% in its third round was
Percy Jackson & The Olympians which took in an estimated $9.8M boosting
the cume to $71.2M for Fox.
Valentine’s Day
became the first new release of the new decade to break the $100M mark this
weekend. The Warner Bros. release grossed an estimated $9.5M, off 43%, for a
$100.4M sum.[rtimage]MapID=1214096&MapTypeID=2&photo=9&legacy=1[/rtimage]Sony’s
Dear John
followed with an estimated $5M, down 30%, with a $72.6M total.
The Wolfman
suffered the worst decline in the top ten falling 58% to an estimated $4.1M.
Cume to date is $57.2M for Universal.
Fox’s kidpic
The Tooth Fairy still had good legs dipping only 21% in its sixth
weekend to an estimated $3.5M. The Jeff Bridges drama
Crazy Heart
rounded out the top ten with an estimated $2.5M, off a slim 14%. Total grosses
stand at $53.9M and $25.1M, respectively.[rtimage]MapID=1200453&MapTypeID=2&photo=1&legacy=1[/rtimage]The
top ten films grossed an estimated $105.7M which was up 31% from last year when
Madea Goes To Jail remained in the top spot with $16.2M; and up 39% from
2008 when Semi-Pro debuted at number one with $15.1M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya, Box Office Guru!
