Box office report for Nov. 16, 2009
Global disaster meant big box-office dollars as ”2012,” doomsday specialist Roland Emmerich’s (“Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow”) latest film, opened at No. 1 domestically with $65 million and blew up $225 million worldwide.
The Sony Pictures actioner, starring John Cusack, Danny Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor, has the remnants of humanity boarding giant arks as the earth’s crust shifts and waters flood most of the planet, according to the Associated Press.
“2012″ did $17.2 million in France, $15.3 million in Russia, $9.9 million in South Korea and $8.1 million in Spain.
Here in the U.S., “2012″ came in just short of the $68.7 million opening weekend for Emmerich’s “The Day After Tomorrow.”
The weekend’s other new wide release, Focus Features’ rock ‘n’ roll comedy “Pirate Radio,” opened at No. 11 with a week $2.9 million in 882 theaters. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh in a tale about 1960s disc jockeys blasting illicit rock music into stodgy Britain from an offshore radio station aboard a tanker.
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol” slipped to No. 2 with $22.3 million, down only 26 percent from its No. 1 opening gross a weekend earlier. The Jim Carrey holiday adventure, directed by high-tech specialist Robert Zemeckis, raised its 10-day total to $63.3 million.
Big films typically can drop 50 percent or more in the second weekend, but the solid continued business for “A Christmas Carol” indicates it could have a strong legs to take it through the holidays.
While the George Clooney satire “The Men Who Stare at Goats” came in at No. 3, Lionsgate’s acclaimed drama “Precious: Based on the Novel `Push’ by Sapphire” broke into the top 10 at No. 4 as it expanded to more theaters after a huge debut in limited release the previous weekend.
“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” notched another $5.1 million domestically to raise its total to $67.2 million. The Sony release became the all-time top-grossing music documentary, passing the $65.3 million total of 2008′s ”Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.”
Paramount’s micro-budget horror flick “Paranormal Activity” pulled in $4.2 million to cross the $100 million mark. Shot for just $15,000, the supernatural tale rode a surge of online buzz to become a horror sensation, with a domestic gross now standing at $103.8 million.
Starting in limited release, Fox Searchlight’s animated comedy “Fantastic Mr. Fox” drew big audiences with $260,000 in four theaters, for a whopping average of $65,000 a cinema. The film, directed by Wes Anderson (“Rushmore,” “The Darjeeling Limited”), expands to nationwide release the day before Thanksgiving.
George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray lead the voice cast of “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” adapted from the Roald Dahl children’s book about a poultry-thieving fox and three wicked farmers.
Despite the big opening for “2012,” box-office business dipped. Overall revenues came in at $140 million, down 6 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when the James Bond adventure “Quantum of Solace” led with $67.5 million, according to the AP.
But box-office fortunes seem destined to improve as the eagerly anticipated sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” opens Friday in theaters.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. “2012,” $65 million.
2. “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” $22.3 million.
3. “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” $6.2 million.
4. “Precious: Based on the Novel `Push’ by Sapphire,” $6.1 million.
5. “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” $5.1 million.
6. “The Fourth Kind,” $4.7 million.
7. “Couples Retreat,” $4.3 million.
8. “Paranormal Activity,” $4.2 million.
9. “Law Abiding Citizen,” $3.9 million.
10. “The Box,” $3.2 million.
-BAM
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