Living up to its' overwhelmingly high buzz, Wreck-it Ralph took first place with a strong $49 million, for a per-theater average of a super $13,070 from around 7,300 screens at 3,752 theaters. That was at the high-end of analysts' bullish expectations, who were forecasting a debut between the high-30's millions and $50 million. Ralph matched Tangled's $49.1 million three-day estimate, and if it holds, it will claim the largest opening weekend to date for Walt Disney Animation Studios' 75-year long canon. Comparing other November animated openings, it was slightly higher than 2010's MegaMind, but down from 2008's Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ($63 million). It also was down a bit from another great comparison, Despicable Me ($56 million). Thanks to this opening, Disney is now finally starting to have hits in the same area as what DreamWorks and Blue Sky are seeing (but not as much as Pixar). The movie wasn't expected to open high at first due to Disney's B-level track record for animated films (as of recently), and five animated films earning $140 million or more stateside this year alone. But strong anticipation from family audiences and Comic-Con/E3 audiences (due to cameos from Sonic, Q-bert and other classic characters) allowed Ralph to post much better-than-expected numbers. Critical reception was strong (83% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences loved it ("A" CinemaScore), which should allow the movie to see strong legs throughout November (next weekend is an extended weekend with Veteran's Day being on that Monday) and perhaps even through the first half of December. Disney was expecting a debut in the low-40's millions, and they produced it for $165 million.
But that wasn't the only success story of the weekend. Denzel Washington further advanced his near-impeccable track record with action drama Flight. The film opened much higher than expected in second with a strong $24.9 million, for a per-theater average of an impressive (and Top 10-best) $13,217 from around 2,900 screens at just 1,884 theaters. Considering the low release count, this makes the opening far more impressive. Another strong factor is that Flight opened slightly ahead of two out of Washington's last three starring movies, Unstoppable and The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 (both opened to $23 million), but was nowhere near Safe House's $42 million debut. Flight was Washington's fifth-biggest debut of his career and director Robert Zemeckis' sixth-biggest debut of his career. The movie received strong reviews (77% on Rotten Tomatoes) and received an "A-" CinemaScore from audiences. If word-of-mouth spreads and the movie expands wider, it could see strong legs. Distributor Paramount Pictures produced the film for $31 million, and they were expecting a low-to-mid teens debut.
Meanwhile, last week's topper Argo continued to hold on strong. Sliding to the bronze position, the Ben Affleck thriller was down a measly 16% from last weekend to $10.2 million, for a strong $75.9 million gross in 24 days. The film wasn't affected by Flight, and if it continues to keep holding strong, it could go as high as $120 million stateside, over six times its' opening weekend.
The final new release, martial arts action thriller The Man with the Iron Fists got off to a middling start, to $7.9 million, taking fourth place, and averaging a moderate $4,235 from 1,868 theaters. Granted, this isn't a great start, but considering its' hardly noticeable buzz, its' actually amazing that it grossed this much. Distributor Universal Pictures had bullish expectations, and Fist opened right in line with that studios' $8-$10 million forecast (other analysts were projecting a $5-$6 million debut). Plus, the budget was only between $15 and $20 milion, and with international numbers expected to be good (considering its' theme and recognizable cast), it should wind up a profitable flick for Universal. Still though, it is a bit of disappointment considering it came in on the low-end for a genre that has been a tough sell for most recent, similar movies. Critical reception was mixed to positive (56% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences were mixed, giving the movie a "C+" CinemaScore.
Finally beginning to hold strong, Taken 2 led all other holdovers in its' fifth weekend, easing just 23% to $5.9 million, for a $125.6 million gross in one month of release. The action sequel is now only a few million ahead of its' predecessor through the same point and will likely close just a bit shy of that movie's $145 million gross. Following its' underwhelming debut last weekend, Cloud Atlas was down 44% to $5.4 million, for a disappointing $18.4 million in 10 days. Now we can call Atlas one of the years' biggest flops, as it will be lucky to reach $30 million by the time its' run in theaters ends.
With Ralph now taking family audiences, Hotel Transylvania finally began to wind down its' run. The animated hit was down 53% to $4.4 million, dropping from third to seventh. With $137.5 million in six weeks, Transylvania probably won't reach $150 million, but it will pass The Smurfs' final gross to become Sony Pictures Animation's biggest movie ever domestically. Despite Halloween's passing, Paranormal Activity 4 did hold itself together better than last weekend, down 50% to $4.25 million, for a $49.5 million gross in 17 days with not much further to go. Kevin James' Here Comes The Boom continued to hold itself together, down 32% to $3.5 million, for a $35.5 million gross in 24 days and has a strong chance at matching its' $42 million budget by the time it leaves theaters.
Rounding out the Top 10 was Silent Hill: Revelation, which actually dropped hard with Halloween's passing. The horror sequel dropped a Top 10-worst 59% to $3.3 million, for a disappointing $13.9 million gross in 10 days, and won't reach its' $20 million budget.
Internationally, Skyfall opened in almost every other country and saw phenomenal results. The 23rd James Bond movie earned an incredible $156 million from all markets (except for the U.S. which opens next weekend), bringing its' early worldwide tally to near $300 million. In a distant second, Paranormal Activity 4 earned another $14.3 million from 51 markets, for an overseas gross of near $70 million (and worldwide gross of near $120 million). Hotel Transylvania took third place with another $13.7 million, for a worldwide gross of over $250 million, and has another $50-$75 million to go. Wreck-it Ralph began its' slow roll-out in fourth place, with a strong $12 million from just six markets. Rounding out the Top 5 was another animated title, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, which was able to add another $7.9 million, for an overseas tally of an amazing $512 million, and will pass Shrek Forever After this week to become DreamWorks Animation's highest-grossing movie ever overseas. Worldwide, the threequel is close to $730 million, with another $20 million or so to come...
