box office
Weekly results of horror, fantasy, and science fiction films in theatres, plus occasional articles on foreign business and/or analysis of trends.
Box Office: Imagine That opens in 6th; Moon rises in limted release
New films failed to unseat established winners at the nation’s box office this weekend. IMAGINE THAT, starring Eddie Murphy – the only cinefantastique to debut in wide release – opened in just over 3,000 theatres, where it earned a measly $5.7-million, landing in sixth place.
The weekend’s other genre debut, the low-budget MOON, opened in only [...]
“Up” stays up at the box office
Pixar’s 3-D animated blockbuster UP remained aloft at the box office during its second weekend in theatres, despite strong competition from THE HANGOVER, which made its debut in second place. Meanwhile, the weekend’s big science fiction film debut, LAND OF THE LOST, came in a distant third.
UP earned $44.24-million, raising its two-week total to $137.3-million.
LAND [...]
“Salvation” terminates $3-million at midnight
Christian Bale and Sam Worthington
Variety reports that midnight screenings of TERMINATOR SALVATION last night (technically, this morning) earned$3-million, launching the extended Memorial Day weekend with an early explosive bang. By way of comparison, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE earned almost $5-million at midnight screenings, and WATCHMEN took in $4.6-million the midnight before its official opening.
TERMINATOR SALVATION [...]
Angels & Demons warps past Star Trek and Wolverine
Science fiction and fantasy films had launched the summer box office season to a great start thanks to STAR TREK and X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, but this weekend they were passed up by the debut of ANGELS & DEMONS, director Ron Howard’s sequel to his 2006 blockbuster. Not to worry: both TREK and WOLVERINE posted strong [...]
Star Trek boldly goes overseas
Variety reports that Paramount Pictures is going all-out with publicity for their new STAR TREK film, which opens tomorrow evening. In particular, there has been a big promotional push overseas, where the previous films have not done particularly well. Typically, big franchises earn hafl their revenues – or more – internationally, but the biggest grossing [...]
Box Office: Dragonball debut is a dud
The weekend’s one fantasy film debut, DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION, was a dud at the box office. Directed by James Wong (FINAL DESTINATION), the adaptation of the popular anime franchise failed to ignite despite the presence of Chow Yun-Fat (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) and James Marsters (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER). Making its debut in 2,181 North American theatres, [...]
Box Office: Monsters not so Fast & Furious
The debut of FAST & FURIOUS took #1 at the box office, forcing last week’s win-place-and-show trio of fantasy, horror, and science fiction – MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT, and KNOWING – into second, third, and fourth place, respectively.
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS earned $33.5-million its sophomore session, for a two-week total of $105.7-million.
HAUNTING IN [...]
Box Office: Monsters vs. Aliens battles to the top
Regardless of who won the on-screen battle, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS was the clear winner at the box office, easily outdistancing the #2 film THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT and making as much as the next four films combined. Making its debut in 4,104 North American Theatres, the DreamWorks animated film earned an impressive $58.2-million.
Also making its [...]
Box Office: Knowing knows that way to #1
KNOWING is the new #1 film at the box office. The sci-fi fantasy – directed by Alex Proyas and starring Nicolas Cage – made its debut in 3,322 North American theatres, where it earned an estimated $24.8-million, easily surpassing the second place entry, I LOVE YOU MAN.
As for holdover sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films, last week’s [...]
Box Office: “Race” tops the mountain
It was a good weekend for science fiction, fantasy, and horror films at the box office, with genre titles taking the win, place, and show positions.
Disney’s RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN raced to the top of the box office during its debut weekend. Opening in 3,187 North American theatres, the film earned a cool $24.4-million, easily knocking [...]
Box Office: Who watches the Watchman? Ticket-buyers.
WATCHMEN was definitely the film to watch this weekend. Making its debut on 3,611 North American screens, the Warner Brothers superhero tale earned an estimated $55.65-million – more than the rest of the weekend Top Ten combined. Strong advance sales, a big opening night on Friday, and sold-out IMAX screenings had led some to expect that [...]
Box Office: Coraline back in 3rd, Jason in 6th
This was one of those rare weekends during which no new science fiction, fantasy, or horror movies opened. The only two holdovers still in the Top Ten were CORALINE and FRIDAY THE 13, which saw somewhat divergent results.
CORALINE, in its third weekend of release, bounced back from #5 to #3, which is where it made [...]
Box Office: Jason lives again
The new version of FRIDAY THE 13TH easily sliced and diced its way to the top of the box office. Making its debut in 3,105 North American theatres, the film earned an estimated $42.3-million. To put that number in perspective, in one weekend, FRIDAY THE 13TH has already matched the money earned by THE UNBORN [...]
