The biggest news of the weekend was that Disney's 3-D re-release of The Lion King was not only able to top the box office, but it overperformed even the highest of expectations. Disney's animated blockbuster grossed $30.2 million on its' return to theaters, for a per-theater average of a fantastic $12,941 from around 3,400 screens at just 2,330 theaters. That ranks as the fourth highest-grossing September opening of all-time and nearly mirrored the opening weekend of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which earned $30.3 million on this same weekend two years ago. Disney promoted the re-release as a one-of-a-kind limited engagement, and brought the nostalgia factor from adults, and found this as a great way for the new generation of kids to see it for the first time. In fact, the last family flick to debut at #1 on the box office charts was Cars 2 (also from Disney). Although 3-D hasn't seen strong percentages lately, this reversed the trend, as 92% of business was from the 3-D showings. Its' clear from these strong results that Disney will likely extend King's original two-week engagement into a full theatrical run.
Contagion held its' ground in second, and despite the mixed audience reception, it was able to drop just 35% in its' second weekend to $14.5 million, for a $44.3 million tally in 10 days. The second weekend hold was about the same as last years' The Town, which ended up with $92 million domestically. A finish close to that number would make Contagion one of the biggest thrillers of the year.
Among the other new releases, Drive was closer to expectations, snagging third place and earning a modest $11.3 million, for a per-theater average of an okay $3,929 from around 3,100 screens at 2,886 theaters. The opening was on par with distributor FilmDistrict's recent flicks Insidious and Soul Surfer, which both had opening weekends of $13.5 million and $10.7 million. True action flicks rarely succeed at the box office (with Fast Five being a notable exception), and Drive was able to secure its' audience well, but people that saw it weren't pleased, as the CinemaScore grade was a distressing C-. That doesn't signal good legs, though that same grade didn't seem to affect Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.
The Help continued to work wonders in its' sixth weekend, as it expanded to over 3,000 theaters and dropped just 27% to $6.5 million, for a $147 million tally in 42 days. I wouldn't be surprised if the final domestic tally approached the same as Bridesmaids ($169.9 million).
The other two new releases were close in terms of gross in fifth and sixth places. But Straw Dogs and I Don't Know How She Does It both disappointed on their opening weekends. The hillbilly horror remake earned $5.1 million, for a per-theater average of a dismal $2,128 from around 2,700 screens at 2,408 theaters. While it may have sold probably more tickets than the 1971 version of the film, it didn't pull in the audience that distributor Screen Gems was expecting and ranked as the lowest-grossing horror effort this year. The Sarah Jessica Parker comedy pulled in just $4.4 million, for a per-theater average of a poor $1,778 from around 2,600 screens at 2,476 theaters. That was just over one-seventh of The Help, which probably stole some of its' audience, and it even fell short of One Day to become the years' lowest-grossing book adaption. Look for both films to quickly fall out of the Top 10 as their CinemaScore grades were B- and B, respectfully.
The seventh through tenth spots were all less than $1 million apart from each other. The Debt held better than last time, with a 38% drop to $2.9 million in its' third weekend, for a $26.6 million tally in 17 days. Despite its' A CinemaScore grade, Warrior dropped 45% to $2.9 million and has picked up a mediocre $10 million in 10 days. Rise of the Planet of the Apes continued having strong legs in its' seventh weekend, with a 32% drop to $2.7 million, and a total of $171.7 million in 49 days. Colombiana rounded out the field with a 41% ease to $2.3 million, for a $33.4 million tally in 28 days.
Overall box office was down 2% from the same time last year when crime thriller The Town topped the box office with a potent $23.8 million. The Ben Affleck film had good legs throughout the rest of the fall season, finishing with $92.2 million. High school comedy Easy A started off strong in second with $17.7 million, and would also see strong legs, as the Emma Stone flick would finish with $58.4 million. M. Night Shyamalan's city action thriller Devil debuted to modest results in third with $12.3 million, and would go on to gross $33.6 million from domestic territories while Resident Evil: Afterlife retreated to fourth place after its' strong opening weekend with a 63% plunge to $10 million. The animated family flick Alpha and Omega rounded out the Top 5, debuting with $9.1 million, on its' way to a modest finish of $25.1 million.
Here is the final Top 10:
# Movie Final Number Projected Estimate My Prediction
1 The Lion King (3-D) $30,151,614 $29,300,000 $10,000,000
2 Contagion $14,548,433 $14,500,000 $12,500,000
3 Drive $11,340,461 $11,000,000 $13,100,000
4 The Help $6,513,039 $6,200,000 $5,900,000
5 Straw Dogs $5,123,760 $5,006,000 $11,000,000
6 I Don't Know How She Does It $4,402,201 $4,600,000 $8,600,000
7 The Debt $2,942,631 $2,861,000 $2,600,000
8 Warrior $2,860,325 $2,672,000 $3,100,000
9 Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes $2,658,131 $2,534,000 $2,000,000
10 Colombiana $2,330,291 $2,300,000 $2,200,000
