The Disney family film update Race to Witch Mountain won the weekend box office in fine fashion, grossing $25 million, according to Sunday’s estimates from Media by Numbers. That’s the second best opening ever for a movie fronted by Dwayne Johnson alone, trailing only the first feature that starred the artist formerly known as The Rock, The Scorpion King, which banked $36.1 in its 2002 debut. Race to Witch Mountain’s take was in line with expectations and garnered an okay CinemaScore grade of B+ from an audience that was 60 percent female. It should stay strong at the box office at least until Monsters vs. Aliens opens in two weeks.
Also in Race to Witch Mountain’s favor: weak competition from reigning champ Watchmen (No. 2), which dropped a hefty 67 percent from its big opening last weekend to gross $18.1 mil. Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s landmark superhero saga is clearly slowing down, although it has grossed $86 mil in 10 days.
Freshman fright flick The Last House on the Left was next at No. 3, with an anticipated $14.7 mil. That’s a decent sum for a horror movie that had the added benefit of opening on Friday the 13th; indeed, it’s in line with what most scary remakes tend to bring in on their first weekends. Thus, you can expect this film (which got a so-so B CinemaScore review) to fall off the map after this frame, since that’s also what most horror movies do.
Taken (No. 4 with $6.7 mil) remained in the top five well into its second month at the multiplex. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail came in at No. 5 with $5.1 mil. And the weekend’s other new wide release, the Playboy-centric comedy Miss March, grossed an unsexy $2.3 mil way down at No. 10.
Meanwhile, the limited indie release Sunshine Cleaning, starring Emily Blunt and Amy Adams, scored the highest opening-weekend per-theater average thus far in 2009, dusting up a stellar average of $53,500 in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
Overall, the box office was a little on the sluggish side, dropping nearly 17 percent from the same frame a year ago, when Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! was the big winner. Still, this is just the first “down” weekend in more than a month, which is comforting.
More Box Office News:
Box Office Preview: Will ‘Race to Witch Mountain’ brew up a win?
‘Watchmen’ wins the weekend with $55.7 mil
‘Madea’ tops ‘Jonas Brothers’ for a second box office win
‘Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail’ wins big at the box office
‘Friday the 13th’ slashes records
EW.com’s Box Office Chart
Comments (1-15) of 26 Add your comment
Watchmen is so good and Malin Akerman soooo hot: http://www.actressscene.com/search/label/Malin%20Akerman
Sunshine cleaning was really good. Im glad it did so well.
Why is EW always such a wuss when it comes to being honest about movies that it has overhyped for months? Watchmen is a BOMB — it got awful reviews and no one wants to see it except for the fanboy freaks who’ve been salivating for months. “Clearly slowing down?” Please.
Great that the terrible Wathcmen is plummeting….
Not even tons and tons of publicity can make it good, Taken a come out of nowhere film is having a way better run, go figure…
How is $86 million in ten days a bomb, exactly? It’s an R-rated superhero movie that held limited mainstream appeal and no recognizable characters (at least not to the public). The movie will have zero problem making money, especially once tie-ins and DVD sales are factored in in the coming months.
haha JK, it didn’t get awful reviews
i hate it when people think when a blockbuster movie gets less than stellar reviews it automatically sucks. EW gave it a B- and that’s about on par with what most reviewers said. I loved it though, but whatever
whoops i meant jd, not JK
Whats with all the hate about Watchmen?
A truely wonderful movie that goes above most people’s heads. Is that reason to hate it?
Witch Mountain? A remake that didnt need to be made but is popular because families can see it. They cant see Watchmen.
i think watchmen was way underestimated in the reviews
I have yet to make it to Watchmen, but if the hate is based on its content, then I guess people are stupider than I thought. The graphic novel is very challenging. But some can’t get over blue man nudity and the like.
$86 million in 10 days is a bomb when the movie cost $150 million and is crapping out overseas.
Which Online Movie Download Sites Offering to Download Watchmen Are Legal? If it sounds too good to be true it probably is especially when Watchmen is still in theaters.
http://www.squidoo.com/see-watchmen-online
Watchman is more of a niche film compared to other superhero movies, so I can see why it lost a lot of box office luster after the first weekend. It’s not as mainstream like Iron Man was or a fantastic sequel to a familiar licensed property, a la The Dark Knight. Seeing an adaption of a graphic novel that deconstructs the superhero genre, while presenting material that’s uncomfortable for some (and no, I don’t mean Dr. Manhattan’s genitalia, though I know plenty of males will penalize Watchmen for that alone), it’s not going to be a mass hit. Still, I’m happy with Snyder’s adaption. I prefer an uncompromising film that might not click with everyone over a movie that tries to please everyone for financial gain. In that regard, Watchman succeeded. Besides, when crap like Paul Blart: Mall Cop snags over $100 million, box office profit doesn’t always equal quality.
I’ll give Taken credit, since it’s a fun film to watch, but in terms of plot, it’s extremely formulaic.
It is a shame for Watchmen and as for this coming weekend-
1)Knowing
2)I Love You Man
3)Race To Witch Mountain
4)Watchmen
5)Taken
KOZ – you really don’t think Duplicity will make more than the 4 or 5 million Taken will likely make next weekend?