Initial box-office estimates for Michael Jackson's This is It's opening day have come in at around $12 million -- not quite what you'd call a blistering pace but pretty strong nevertheless for a non-franchise Wednesday opening in late October. That should drop off today, with a Friday surge heading into Halloween weekend. A $65 million five-day gross isn't out of the question; Sony boss Michael Lynton might attribute this to the studio's piracy-busting efforts, but those in the know recognize Phinnessee Power when we see it. [DHD]
Not since Nia Vardalos spun her head around and vomited tzatziki in My Big Fat Greek Exorcism has one little overperforming underdog of an independent horror film so stunned the industry. Click on to find out more about the 5-figure-budget movie that possessed America this weekend, and the far pricier monsters it left whimpering in its wake.
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Spike Jonze led his woolly cadre of bandits on a box-office spree this weekend, finally allaying any doubts that his ambitious adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are could find traction in the cruel world awaiting it. And there was plenty of loot left behind for its multiplex rivals as well; find out how much after the jump.
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Hey, here's something nice: For a change, every movie did pretty well at the box office yesterday! The top story is definitely Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, which took in $11.9 million on its way to a $30+ weekend, but there was good news for Law Abiding Citizen, Paranormal Activity, The Stepfather...hell, even Whip It finally cracked a $10 million cume outside of the top ten. The full numbers, after the jump:
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It was a box office bonanza this weekend for two films in particular, each an unlikely success story. One was made simply by setting up cameras and letting the actors improvise their way toward some predetermined, terrifying plot points. The other was Paranormal Activity. Let's see how they did!
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The clouds have finally parted on the recently plagued box office, only to reveal a baby grand piano tumbling from the sky and splatting zombie guts across a 14-foot radius. Congratulations, Cynthia Knickerbocker -- your deadly ingenuity has saved Hollywood.
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In our new box office landscape, where zombies prowl the earth and earn an easy #1 for the weekend, there is one depressing new maxim: Movies made by, for, and starring women are going to ta-ank. Witness the heavily-hyped Whip It, which opened in sixth place yesterday; not only will it pale in comparison to the already-brutal Jennifer's Body opening numbers, it couldn't even beat The Invention of Lying, for Christ's sake. And it was released by Fox Searchlight! Ladies, what do you want from the movies? I'm not a mind-reader over here.
Full figures after the jump:
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It was another dreadful couple of days at the box office, as moviegoers -- faced with bleak options like Surrogates, Pandorum and Fame -- chose to instead spend their weekends doing more productive things like cleaning out their garages, or enrolling in online correspondence beauty schools. (Or in our case, both!) Let's peek through our fingers at the damage, shall we?
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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs rained on Surrogates Friday for the weekend's box-office lead, though neither Sony nor Disney are gloating too much about being at the top of another sluggish frame at the movies. Meatballs' $5.5 million narrowly edged Surrogates' anemic $5 million, and the hemorrhaging worsened on down the line for second-week slumpers like The Informant, Jennifer's Body and Love Happens. At least there was good news for the troubled MGM, whose relatively mini-budgeted Fame took in $3.5 million for third place and stands to turn a tidy theatrical profit en route to DVD. Baby steps, gang! Check out Friday's top 10 after the jump.
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Hey, kids -- you know what Americans don't particularly do much of in the third weekend of September? If you said "see movies," you're right! Let's wipe some lasagna off the windshield and see how Hollywood made out, shall we?
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Hey, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will perform to expectations this weekend! And thaaaaat's about all the good things one can say about Friday's unremarkable box office, which is most notable for the brutal audience evisceration of Jennifer's Body (which opened in fifth place). Full results after the jump...and I warn you, you'll do a lot of wincing:
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September might still be regarded as a box office dead zone, but four new entries clogged the marketplace this week. (Hey, anything that might siphon screens away from All About Steve is fine by us.) So how did Tyler Perry's latest fare against an animated apocalypse and two female-driven thrillers? Let's find out:
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For the sixth time in eight tries, cross-dressing mogul Tyler Perry is on track for a number-one opening at the box office. His I Can Do Bad All By Myself coaxed a terrific $8.6 million from moviegoers on Friday, outgunning second-place finisher 9 by more than double. The week's horror tandem of Sorority Row and Whiteout underperformed in third and sixth places respectively; they were separated by Inglourious Basterds (which will have just cracked $100 million at press time) and All About Steve. Poor, poor Sacramento. Click through for Friday's complete top 10.
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Join us now as we bid a fond farewell to Summer 2009, and load our Up backbacks with G.I. Joe Trapper Keepers, G-Force scented erasers and Monsters vs. Aliens Edition Elmer's Glue in time for the first day of school. The four-day weekend numbers are after the jump.
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The Labor Day movie doldrums made for a relatively quiet Friday at the box office, where last week's winner The Final Destination dueled the disastrously reviewed All About Steve for first place. At press time, a margin of $5,000 separated the two titles at the top of the chart, with Destination narrowly claiming the top spot. Gamer edged Inglorious Basterds with a little more clearance in third place, while Mike Judge's Extract slumped out of the top five with an underwhelming $1.36 million. Check out the full Top 10 after the jump.
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