There were no real winners this weekend as the third Chronicles of Narnia movie faced off against The Tourist and both of them performed well under expectations. But, like a Nevada Senatorial race, there had to be a victor, and Narnia edged out Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie for the dubious honor of not doing as horribly. Your weekend receipts are here.
1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Gross: $24,500,000 (new)
Screens: 3,555 (PSA: $6,892)
Weeks: 1
So, this is something that I could never understand from this series. The Pevensie kids lived full lives in Narnia before coming back to the real world, right? They matured into adult kings and queens, presumably had sex, maybe had kids of their own, certainly ruled as divinely-selected sovereigns. So why aren't they more melancholy in the real world? Why isn't Edmund lost in a depression spiral, darkly mourning the loss of his power, his sexual conquests, or at least his pubic hair? He has to go through puberty again! That would be enough to put me into therapy at the very least.
2. The Tourist
Gross: $17,000,000 (new)
Screens: 2,756 (PSA: $6,168)
Weeks: 1
They can't ALL be Salts and Pirates of the Caribbean, guys. But don't worry, Johnny and Angelina will land on top. He's working on another Pirates flick right now and she's...doing a Bosnia rape movie. Hmm. Might want to throw another Tomb Raider or something in there, just to stay viable, Angie.
3. Tangled
Gross: $14,559,000 ($115,623,000)
Screens:3,565 (PSA: $4,084)
Weeks: 3 (change: -32.6%)
I have fond memories of watching the Disney Afternoon after school every day (Ducktales forever, y'all!), and I would fully support the further adventures of Flynn Rider and Maximus the Horse appearing on wherever cartoons appear in the 21st century. And if they could somehow cross over with the Rescue Rangers, well, that would be ideal.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Gross: $8,500,000 ($257,688,000)
Screens: 3,577 (PSA: $2,376)
Weeks: 4 (change: -50.1%)
The Harry Potter movies average out to about a $280 million domestic gross, and that where it seems like this one is headed. Hurray for averages!
5. Unstoppable
Gross: $3,750,000 ($74,272,000)
Screens: 2,967 (PSA: $1,264)
Weeks: 5 (change: -37.2%)
Unstoppable has now joined the Red Memorial Hall of Fame, where it's slowly but surely stayed in the top 5 for a full-on month, and I've more or less run out of things to say about it. So, let me nitpick: after the first attempt of landing a conductor on the runaway train failed, why not just try it again? It almost worked! Wouldn't that be a better idea than just letting a chunk of blue-collar PA erupt in flames?
[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]