Fueled by real-life romance rumors, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn’s anti-romantic comedy The Break-Up took the top spot at the North American box office this weekend with $38.1 million, pushing last week’s champ X-Men: The Last Stand, to second place with $34.3 million.
“[Aniston and Vaughn] are always in the press,” Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which released The Break-Up told The Associated Press. “Every time you turn around, somebody’s talking about Jennifer, or Jennifer and Brad, or Jennifer and Vince. It’s not why we made the movie, though.”
In its second weekend of release, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth went into wider release, playing across 77 screens, placing it at No. 9 on the list with a $1.33 million take.
“It’s breakups and global warming that I think really are interesting people now,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told AP.
The Top 12 pics this week grossed an estimated $128.8, down 31.56 percent from last weekend’s total of $188.3 million but up 1.57 percent from last year’s four-day draw of $126.9 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: DreamWorks’ Madagascar, which moved up to No. 1 with $28.1 million in its second week in 4,142 theaters, averaging $6,787 per theater; Paramount’s The Longest Yard, which moved up to second place in its second week with $26 million in 3,634 theaters, averaging $7,176 per theaters; and 20th Cent Fox’s Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which dropped to third place in its third week with $25 million in 3,650 theaters, averaging $6,874 per theaters (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: The Break-Up (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $38.1 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,070
• Per-theater average: $12,410
No. 2: X-Men: The Last Stand (20th Cent Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $34.3 million (-67%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,714
• Per-theater average: $9,249
• Cume to date: $175.6 million
No. 3: Over the Hedge (DreamWorks, PG)
• Gross: $20.6 million (-24%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,993 (-100)
• Per-theater average: $5,171
• Cume to date: $112.3 million
No. 4: The Da Vinci Code (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $19.3 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,757 (+3)
• Per-theater average: $5,137
• Cume to date: $172.6 million
No. 5: Mission: Impossible III (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.6 million (-33%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,667 (-386)
• Per-theater average: $1,754
• Cume to date: $122.6 million
No. 6: Poseidon (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $3.4 million (-40%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,720 (-525)
• Per-theater average: $1,254
• Cume to date: $51.6 million
No. 7: R.V. (Sony Pictures, PG)
• Gross: $3.3 million (-21%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,181 (-300)
• Per-theater average: $1,513
• Cume to date: $61.8 million
No. 8: See No Evil (Lions Gate, R)
• Gross: $2 million (-25%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 1,270 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,575
• Cume to date: $12.3 million
No. 9: An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics, PG)
• Gross: $1.3 million (+373%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 77 (+73)
• Per-theater average: $17,292
• Cume to date: $1.9 million
No. 10: Just My Luck (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $825,000 (-58%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 958 (-646)
• Per-theater average: $861
• Cume to date: $15.5 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Peaceful Warrior (Lionsgate, PG-13)
• Gross: $77,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 10
• Per-theater average: $7,700
Typhoon (Paramount Classics, R)
• Gross: $48,216
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 24
• Per-theater average: $2,009
