The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
When DreamWorks Animation moved their animated spin-off Puss In Boots up a week to late October, some may have thought CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg had lost his mind. Its $35 million opening was seen as somewhat disappointing, but they’ve clearly gotten the last laugh as the movie, starring the character voiced by Antonio Banderas in the “Shrek” movies, held up astoundingly in its second weekend to take first place for a second week in a row with $33 million. Clearly, it was hurt last weekend by facing a combination of the World Series, a huge snowstorm and Halloween parties, and its impressive second weekend take was off just 3% from its opening weekend, something that rarely happens without a holiday bump.
The pairing of Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller in Brett Ratner’s action-comedy Tower Heist (Universal) probably should have grossed more than the roughly $25.1 million it made in 3,367 theaters this weekend. It opened slightly ahead of Puss In Boots on Friday with $8.1 million, but fell behind on Saturday to settle for second place over the weekend.
It fared better than the third installment of the stoner franchise A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (New Line/Warner Bros.), which opened with $13.1 million in 2,875 theaters, a lower opening than its predecessor despite the higher price of 3D tickets.
Paramount Pictures’ Paranormal Activity 3 dropped to fourth place with $8.5 million, having now grossed $95.3 million in theaters, which puts it well past its predecessor as it tries to catch up to the first movie’s $108 million gross.
Andrew (Gattaca) Niccol’s sci-fi thriller In Time (20th Century Fox), starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, took fifth place with $7.7 million and $24.2 million total, down just 36% from last weekend.
Craig Brewer’s remake of Footloose (Paramount) ended its first month in theaters in sixth place with $4.5 million and $44.8 million total, while Shawn Levy’s Real Steel (DreamWorks), starring Hugh Jackman, added $3.4 million to its own total in seventh place. It’s grossed $78.7 million to date.
Eighth place went to the Hunter S. Thompson adaptation The Rum Diary (FilmDistrict), starring Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart and Amanda Heard, with just under $3 million and $10.4 million total.
Ninth and tenth went to two Sony movies, George Clooney’s political thriller The Ides of March with $2 million and the baseball drama Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill with $1.9 million. Ides has $36.8 million banked compared to Moneyball‘s $70.7 million.
The Top 10 grossed roughly $102 million, down significantly from last year’s November opener which was lead by DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind with $48 million and the Todd Phillips road comedy Due Date (Warner Bros.) with $33 million.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
