The rats have it! Pixar’s latest animated wonder Ratatouille took the top spot at the North American box office this weekend with $47.2 million. Their newest effort, about a Parisian rat who is a gourmet chef, beat Live Free or Die Hard, the fourth installment in the Bruce Willis franchise, which debuted in second with $33.1 million.
Although not nearly the biggest opener for Pixar–Cars holds the record with $70 million—Ratatouille was up against more competition than past Pixar flicks. But with its sparkling reviews, Disney is counting on the animated movie’s staying power at theaters.
“Our whole idea was to set ourselves up for what we call the 10-day opening,” Chuck Viane, Disney’s head of distribution told The Associated Press of the upcoming Fourth of July week. “We look at this as one extended playtime. We’re in this for the long haul. We’re glad we’re No. 1, but we’re not trying to make this just a weekend wonder.”
In narrower release, Michael Moore‘s health care documentary Sicko opened in ninth place with $4.5 million. The movie opened in one New York City theater a week earlier. The family drama Evening, with an all-star cast that includes Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close and Claire Danes, debuted in 10th place with $3.5 million.
The Top 12 movies took in $146.7 million, up 2.12 percent from last year’s total of $143.6 million and up 17.53 percent from last weekend’s total of $124.8million. The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Warner Bros. Superman Returns, which opened at No. 1 with $52.5 million in 4,065 theaters, averaging $12,924 per theater; 20th Century Fox’s The Devil Wears Prada, which opened in second place with $27.5 million in 2,847 theaters, averaging $9,672 per theater; and Sony’s Click, which dropped to third place in its third week with $19.9 million in 3,764 theaters, averaging $5,292 per theater. (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Ratatouille (Disney, G)
• Gross: $47.2 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,940
• Per-theater average: $11,987
No. 2: Live Free or Die Hard (Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $33.1 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,408
• Per-theater average: $9,727
• Cume to date: $48.1 million (opened Wednesday)
No. 3: Evan Almighty (Universal, PG)
• Gross: $15 million (-52%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,636 (+32)
• Per-theater average: $4,150
• Cume to date: $60.6 million
No. 4: 1408 (MGM, PG-13)
• Gross: $10.6 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,733 (+55)
• Per-theater average: $3,882
• Cume to date: $40.3 million
No. 5: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $9 million (-55%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,424 (-539)
• Per-theater average: $2,629
• Cume to date: $114.8 million
No. 6: Knocked Up (Universal, R)
• Gross: $7.4 million (-32%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,678 (-297)
• Per-theater average: $2,770
• Cume to date: $122.4 million
No. 7: Ocean’s Thirteen (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $6 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,903 (-547)
• Per-theater average: $2,084
• Cume to date: $102 million
No. 8: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $5 million (-30%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,162 (-640)
• Per-theater average: $2,320
• Cume to date: $295.7 million
No. 9: SiCKO (Weinstein/Lionsgate, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.5 million (+6425%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 441 (+440)
• Per-theater average: $10,204
• Cume to date: $4.6 million
No. 10: Evening (Focus Features, PG-13)
• Gross: $3.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 977
• Per-theater average: $3,596
OTHER OPENINGS
Ghosts of Cite Soleil (Thinkfilm, NR)
• Gross: $7,400
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1
• Per-theater average: $7,400
Vitus (Sony Pictures Classics, PG)
• Gross: $5,318
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2
• Per-theater average: $2,659
