Miley Cyrus is on a roll of a lifetime. First, she sells out a nationwide concert tour. Now Cyrus and her pop-star alter-ego Hannah Montana are selling out at the movie theaters with the 3-D concert movie Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds. The movie opened at the top of the North American box office with $29 million, making it the biggest debut ever over the Super Bowl weekend.
The digital 3-D technology gave fans who might have missed the high-priced concert tour the illusion of practically being at the live show, Mark Zoradi, president of Disney’s motion-picture group, told The Associated Press after visiting several packed theaters where the movie played over the weekend.
“The screaming level was unbelievable. It almost plays like a concert. At the end of a song, you have audiences clapping like you do at a concert,” Zoradi said. “Parents who weren’t able to get concert tickets, now they were able to take their kids and satisfy that demand, and kids were in a way able to be up close and personal, with the best seats in the house.”
Playing in just 683 theaters, Best of Both Worlds broke another record: Never before has a movie in so few cinemas premiered at the top of the box office chart. The movie averaged an unprecedented $42,460 per theater. Distributor Disney planned to have the movie out for only a week but now has decided to extend its run in the theaters, according to AP.
Meanwhile, the other newcomers fared as best they could. The Japanese horror remake The Eye, starring Jessica Alba, opened in second place with $13 million. But the romantic comedy Over Her Dead Body, starring Eva Longoria, failed to make the Top 10, debuting in 11th place with $4.6 million.
The Top 12 movies took in $101.5 million, up 43.08 percent from last year’s $70.9 million on the same weekend last year but down 13.70 percent from last weekend’s total of $117.6 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year: Sony’s The Messengers, which opened at No. 1 with $14.7 million in 2,528 theaters, averaging $5,820 per theater; Universal’s Because I Said So, which debuted in second place with $13.1 million in 2,526 theaters, averaging $5,195 per theater; and Fox’s Epic Movie, which dropped to third place in its second week of release with $8.4 million in 2,840 theaters, averaging $2,962per 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: Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds (Walt Disney, G)
• Gross: $29 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 683
• Per-theater average: $42,460
No. 2: The Eye (Lionsgate, PG-13)
• Gross: $13 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,436
• Per-theater average: $5,337
No. 3: 27 Dresses (20th Cent Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $8.4 million (-37%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,976 (-98)
• Per-theater average: $2,823
• Cume to date: $57.1 million
No. 4: Juno (Fox Searchlight, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.4 million (-27%)
• Weeks opened: 9
• Theaters: 2,475 (+49)
• Per-theater average: $3,010
• Cume to date: $110.2 million
No. 5: Meet the Spartans (Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.1 million (-61%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,643 (+38)
• Per-theater average: $2,696
• Cume to date: $28.3 million
No. 6: Rambo (Lionsgate, R)
• Gross: $7 million (-62%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,764 (+13)
• Per-theater average: $2,533
• Cume to date: $29.8 million
No. 7: The Bucket List (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $6.8 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,915 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,350
• Cume to date: $67.6 million
No. 8: Untraceable (Sony, R)
• Gross: $5.4 million
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,368 (+52)
• Per-theater average: $2,280
• Cume to date: $19.4 million
No. 9: Cloverfield (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.9 million (-61%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,007 (-404)
• Per-theater average: $1,630
• Cume to date: $71.9 million
No. 10: There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage, R)
• Gross: $4.7 million (-2%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 1,507 (+622)
• Per-theater average: $3,159
• Cume to date: $21.1 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Over Her Dead Body (New Line, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.6 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,977
• Per-theater average: $2,327
Strange Wilderness (Paramount Classics, R)
• Gross: $3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,208
• Per-theater average: $2,525
