Moviegoers wanted something new this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
The top three spots at the North American box office were dominated by newcomers. The CGI-animated comedy Hoodwinked, a modern redo on the classic Little Red Riding Hood fable, was originally slated as the top placeholder when initial estimates were released Monday. But after the final numbers were tallied, it looks like the Jerry Bruckheimer’s basketball drama Glory Road narrowly took the top spot with $16.9 million, followed by Hoodwinked with $16.8 million. The Queen Latifah laffer Last Holiday, premiered in third position with $15.7 million.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe moved down to fourth place with $12.2 mil, while last week’s champ, the torture flick Hostel, rounded out the top five with $11.6 million.
Brokeback Mountain, meanwhile, had the highest per-location average of any movie in the Top 10, collecting $10,330 per theater. It was ranked No. 9 in ticket sales over the long weekend.
“This film has everything going for it: the critical acclaim, the word of mouth and, of course, the seven Golden Globe nominations never hurt,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press. “It’s become the must-see movie of the season.”
The Top 12 films grossed an estimated four-day total of $125.3 million, down 12.15 percent from last year’s draw of $142.7 million. This weekend’s three-day total of $101.5 million was also down 4.13 percent from last weekend’s total of $105.9 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Paramount’s PG-13 Coach Carter, which opened at No. 1 with $29.1 million in 2,524 theaters, averaging $9,581 per theater; Universal’s PG-13 Meet the Fockers, which dropped to second place in its fourth week with $22.5 million in 3,554 theaters, averaging $5,435 per theater; and Warner Bros’ PG-rated Racing Stripes, which opened in third place with $18.8 million in 3,185 theaters, averaging $4,371 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: Glory Road (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $16.9 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,222
• Per-theater average: $7,618
No. 2: Hoodwinked (Weinstein Co., PG)
• Gross: $16.8 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,394
• Per-theater average: $7,051
No. 3: Last Holiday (Paramount Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $15.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,514
• Per-theater average: $6,245
No. 4: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $12.2 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 3,224 (-290)
• Per-theater average: $3,793
• Cume to date: $263.4 million
No. 5: Hostel (Lionsgate, R)
• Gross: $11.6 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,337 (+142)
• Per-theater average: $4,985
• Cume to date: $36.8 million
No. 6: Fun with Dick and Jane (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $10.3 million (-27%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,239 (+57)
• Per-theater average: $3,180
• Cume to date: $94.2 million
No. 7: King Kong (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $9.2 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,814 (-668)
• Per-theater average: $3,269
• Cume to date: $204.7 million
No. 8: Tristan and Isolde (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.8 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,845
• Per-theater average: $4,255
No. 9: Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features, R)
• Gross: $7 million (+1%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 683 (+200)
• Per-theater average: $10,330
• Cume to date: $32 million
No. 10: Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (20th Cent Fox, PG)
• Gross: $6.7 million (-40%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,773 (-336)
• Per-theater average: $2,443
• Cume to date: $74.6 million
