Megamind leads a Big Box Office Weekend

On the first big box office weekend of the fall, three new films all met expectations with good openings that could foreshadow a strong holiday season. Opening on top was the latest 3D cartoon from Paramount/Dreamworks, Megamind, which took in $ 47.6 million (on par with this spring’s brilliant P/DW toon How to Train Your Dragon). Boasting big star power with Brad Pitt, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill, this one should be the big family choice for several weeks til Harry Potter comes to town. Opening in second was the new comedy from The Hangover director Todd Phillips, Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifinakis which netted $33.5 million. While that’s a nice start, it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming weeks as word of mouth isn’t so good on this one. Tyler Perry’s latest, For Colored Girls, was next in line grabbing a standard $20 million opening. The film starring a bevy of talented African-American actresses including Oscar nominee Janet Jackson, Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg, Thandie Newton and Anika Noni Rose didn’t cross over to audience outside of Perry’s usual core group. However, the film is hoping to be an awards player (especially for its performances, most notably Kimberly Elise) which could help it reach a bigger audience in the future. Two other big awards contenders opened strongly in limited release as well. Fair Game with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn grabbed $700,000 in only 46 theatres while James Franco’s star turn in 127 Hours grabbed a huge $66,500 per screen average in just four theatres. (That was the second biggest per screen average for a limited release this year following Oscar bait The Kids are Alright). And still showing good legs were Red and Secretariat while last week’s chart topper Saw 3D plummeted the expected 64%. For all your box office needs, head to Box Office Mojo here. And check out the weekend top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Megamind P/DW $47,650,000 – 3,944 – $12,082 $47,650,000 $130 1
2 N Due Date WB $33,500,000 – 3,355 – $9,985 $33,500,000 $65 1
3 N For Colored Girls LGF $20,100,000 – 2,127 – $9,450 $20,100,000 $21 1
4 3 Red Sum. $8,858,000 -17.4% 3,229 -120 $2,743 $71,871,000 $58 4
5 1 Saw 3D LGF $8,200,000 -63.6% 2,808 – $2,920 $38,801,000 $20 2
6 2 Paranormal Activity 2 Par. $7,298,000 -55.8% 3,168 -71 $2,304 $77,224,000 $3 3
7 4 Jackass 3-D Par. $5,097,000 -40.1% 2,165 -974 $2,354 $110,814,000 $20 4
8 5 Hereafter WB $4,020,000 -37.4% 2,365 -59 $1,700 $28,730,000 $50 4
9 6 Secretariat BV $4,002,000 -20.1% 2,614 -494 $1,531 $50,965,000 $35 5
10 7 The Social Network Sony $3,600,000 -20.3% 1,860 -907 $1,935 $85,047,000 $50 6

Saw 3D Kills the Competition on a lackluster Halloween Weekend

The “final” chapter in the gruesome Saw horror series, Saw 3D, killed the competition this weekend opening to $22.5 million at the box office. However, that take was rather underwhelming considering many prognosticators and studio execs had thought it might reach the $30s. Luckily they had the higher 3D ticket prices to up the total for what may end up being a disappointing final total for the series. Regardless, this cheap pic will make a nice profit and outgross the last film in the series in a week. Holding up ok in second was the other scary title in the top ten Paranormal Activity 2 which dropped the expected 60% to $16.5 million. The rest of the top ten showed strong holds for Red and Secretariat and the appearance of the great new drama Conviction which expanded into 565 theatres landing in tenth place with $1.8 million. For all your box office needs, head to Box Office Mojo here. And check out the Halloween weekend top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Saw 3D LGF $22,500,000 – 2,808 – $8,013 $24,200,000 $20 1
2 1 Paranormal Activity 2 Par. $16,500,000 -59.4% 3,239 +23 $5,094 $65,658,000 $3 2
3 3 Red Sum. $10,811,000 -28.1% 3,349 +76 $3,228 $58,905,000 $58 3
4 2 Jackass 3-D Par. $8,425,000 -60.5% 3,139 +28 $2,684 $101,578,000 $20 3
5 4 Hereafter WB $6,320,000 -47.4% 2,424 +243 $2,607 $22,161,000 $50 3
6 6 Secretariat BV $5,071,000 -27.6% 3,108 – $1,632 $44,774,000 $35 4
7 5 The Social Network Sony $4,700,000 -35.4% 2,767 -154 $1,699 $79,706,000 $50 5
8 7 Life as We Know It WB $4,000,000 -34.8% 2,860 -159 $1,399 $43,478,000 $38 4
9 9 The Town WB $1,950,000 -29.1% 1,608 -310 $1,213 $87,602,000 $37 7
10 25 Conviction FoxS $1,825,000 +502.0% 565 +510 $3,230 $2,378,000 $12.5 3