A pack of stranded Huskies took the hearts of moviegoers this President’s Day weekend.
Eight Below, an inspirational adventure about a team of sled dogs surviving in Antarctica, debuted at the top of the North American box office with four-day total of $25 million, pushing reigning champ The Pink Panther down to third place with $21 million. Meanwhile, the romantic spoof Date Movie opened in second place with $22.3 million.
Parents and their children accounted for about two-thirds of movie-goers catching Eight Below, while four-fifths of the audience for Date Movie was under 25, The Associated Press reports.
“By programming two films that aren’t chasing the same audience, you can really build a pretty good weekend for two movies at the same time,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, told AP.
The other newcomer, Freedomland, a racial drama starring Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore, opened at No. 7 with $7 million.
The Top 12 films grossed an estimated four-day total of $135.8 million, down less than 1 percent from last year’s draw of $137.1 million but the three-day totals were up 8.51 percent from last weekend’s total of $102 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Sony’s PG-13 Hitch, which stayed at No. 1 in its second week with $36.7 million in 3,575 theaters, averaging $8,771 per theaters; Warner Bros. PG-13 rated Constantine, which opened in second place with $33.2 million in 3,006 theaters, averaging $9,903 per theater; 20th Century Fox’s PG rated Because of Winn-Dixie, which debuted in third with $13.2 million in 3,188 theaters, averaging $3,202 per theater. (Click here to read last year’s box office report)
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES (Four-Day Totals)
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Eight Below (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $25 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,066
• Per-theater average: $8,164
No. 2: Date Movie (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $22.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,896
• Per-theater average: $7,709
No. 3: The Pink Panther (Columbia/MGM, PG)
• Gross: $21 million (-17%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,477 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $6,040
• Cume to date: $46.6 million
No. 4: Curious George (Universal, G)
• Gross: $15.3 million (-21%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,572 (+6)
• Per-theater average: $5,963
• Cume to date: $33.5 million
No. 5: Final Destination 3 (New Line, R)
• Gross: $12.5 million (-46%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,880 (unchagned)
• Per-theater average: $4,349
• Cume to date: $38.2 million
No. 6: Firewall (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $10.3 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,840 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,634
• Cume to date: $28.6 million
No. 7: Freedomland (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,361
• Per-theater average: $2,965
No. 8: Big Mommas House 2 (Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.8 million (-33%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,039(-694)
• Per-theater average: $2,869
• Cume to date: $62.7 million
No. 9: When a Stranger Calls(Sony/Screen Gems, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.8 million (-45%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,629 (-375)
• Per-theater average: $2,206
• Cume to date: $42 million
No. 10: Nanny McPhee (Universal, PG)
• Gross: $5.1 million (-23%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,001 (-147)
• Per-theater average: $2,549
• Cume to date: $39.3 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Winter Passing (Freestyle, R)
• Gross: $38,010
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 7
• Per-theater average: $5,430
Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) (Fox Searchlight, R)
• Gross: $110,171
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3
• Per-theater average: $36,724
