The limos have been rented, the corsages handed out: The horror remake Prom Night opened in on top of the North American box office this weekend with $22.7 million.
“Audiences today, they’re so savvy in regards to what they want to see or don’t want to see. Particularly a younger audience, they pretty much make up their own mind,” Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution told The Associated Press. With prom season also at hand, that “brings an element of fun,” Bruer added.
The cop drama Street Kings, starring Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker, opened in second with $12 million, while the weekend’s other new wide release, Smart People, starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page and Thomas Haden Church, debuted at No. 7 with $4.2 million.
Hollywood’s box office doldrums continued, with the top 12 movies taking in $82.6 million, down 16 percent from the same weekend last year. This year’s movie attendance is running 6.6 percent behind 2007’s, according to box office tracker Media By Numbers.
The superhero saga Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., is expected to put up big numbers to kick off Hollywood’s summer on May 2. But it is unlikely to approach the record $151.1 million debut of Spiderman 3 over the same weekend a year ago.
“We’re counting on Iron Man to be the film that turns things around, but the box office was so strong a year ago that comparisons are going to be really tough,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers told AP. “I think we’re going to see a lot of downtrending weekends even into summer because last year was so strong, especially in May.”
The top three openers the same weekend last year were: Disturbia, which opened at No. 1 with $22.2 million; Blades of Glory, which dropped to second place in its third week with $13.8 million; and Meet the Robinsons, which dropped to third place in its third week with $12.4 million.
BOX OFFICE TOP 10 ESTIMATES (Source by: Media by Numbers)
No. 1: Prom Night (Sony/Screen Gems, PG-13)
• Gross: $22.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,700
• Per-theater average: $8,407
No. 2: Street Kings (Fox Searchlight, R)
• Gross: $12 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,467
• Per-theater average: $4,864
No. 3: 21 (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $11 million (-28%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,736 (+83)
• Per-theater average: $4,020
• Cume to date: $62.3 million
No. 4: Nim’s Island (Fox, PG)
• Gross: $9 million (-32%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,518 (+5)
• Per-theater average: $2,558
• Cume to date: $25.2 million
No. 5: Leatherheads (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.2 million (-51%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,771 (+2)
• Per-theater average: $2,240
• Cume to date: $21.9 million
No. 6: Horton Hears a Who (20th Century, G)
• Gross: $6 million (-34%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 3,209 (-362)
• Per-theater average: $1,870
• Cume to date: $139.6 million
No. 7: Smart People (Miramax, R)
• Gross: $4.2 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,106
• Per-theater average: $3,797
No. 8: The Ruins (Paramount, R)
• Gross: $3.2 million (-59%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,814 (+2)
• Per-theater average: $1,155
• Cume to date: $13.4 million
No. 9: Superhero Movie (MGM, PG-13)
• Gross: $3.1 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,526 (-439)
• Per-theater average: $1,233
• Cume to date: $21.2 million
No. 10: Drillbit Taylor (Paramoung, PG-13)
• Gross: $2 million (-39%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,205 (-502)
• Per-theater average: $939
• Cume to date: $28.4 million
OTHER OPENINGS
The Visitor (Overture Films, PG-13)
• Gross: $88,383
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 4
• Per-theater average: $22,096
Young@Heart (Fox Searchlight, PG-13)
• Gross: $52,312
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 4
• Per-theater average: $13,078
