The animated musical Happy Feet, about a flock of dancin’ and singin’ penguins, debuted in the top spot at the North American box office this weekend with $42.3 million, while the James Bond actioner Casino Royale opened only a few millions behind at No. 2 with $40.6 million.
The two films were close enough that their rankings could change when final numbers are released Monday, according to The Associated Press. “Happy Feet is just ahead by a flipper,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told AP. “It’s unusual to have two movies this close, battling for that No. 1 position.”
Casino Royale, which introduced a new Bond regime with Daniel Craig as 007, fell right between the debuts of the previous two spy flicks. The last Bond movie, the 2002 Die Another Day, holds the franchise record with $47.1 million, while the 1999 Bond adventure The World Is Not Enough premiered with $35.5 million in 1999.
None of the other openers this weekend made it into the top 10, however. Jailhouse comedy Let’s Go to Prison only took in $2.1 million, while the junk-food chronicle Fast Food Nation grossed $390,000.
Christopher Guest‘s Hollywood spoof For Your Consideration debuted strongly in limited release with $394,000 at 23 theaters, and Emilio Estevez‘s Robert Kennedy saga Bobby opened well with $67,000 in just two theaters. Both films are going into wider release Thanksgiving weekend.
The Top 12 movies grossed $133.6 million this weekend, down 22.27 percent from last year’s draw of $171.8 but up 19.92 percent from last weekend’s total of $111.4 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Warner Bros. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which opened at No. 1 with $102.3 million in 3,858 theaters, averaging $26,525 per theater; 20th Century Fox’s Walk the Line, which opened in second place with $22.3 million in 2,961 theaters, averaging $7,547 per theaters; and Buena Vista’s Chicken Little, which dropped to third place in its third week of release with $14.7 million in 3,514 theaters, averaging $4,187 per theaters (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Happy Feet (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $42.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,804
• Per-theater average: $11,125
No. 2: Casino Royale (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $40.6 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,434
• Per-theater average: $11,823
No. 3: Borat (20th Century Fox, R)
• Gross: $14.3 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,611 (+45)
• Per-theater average: $5,496
• Cume to date: $90.5 million
No. 4: The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (Buena Vista, G)
• Gross: $8.2 million (-51%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,359 (-99)
• Per-theater average: $2,447
• Cume to date: $51.6 million
No. 5: Flushed Away (Paramount, PG)
• Gross: $6.8 million (-59%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,307 (-400)
• Per-theater average: $2,060
• Cume to date: $48.8 million
No. 6: Stranger Than Fiction (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.6 million (-51%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,270 (+6)
• Per-theater average: $2,907
• Cume to date: $22.9 million
No. 6: Babel (Paramount Vantage, R)
• Gross: $2.9 million (-48%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 1,251 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,320
• Cume to date: $12 million
No. 7: Saw III (Lionsgate, R)
• Gross: $2.8 million (-60%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 1,942 (-1,071)
• Per-theater average: $1,442
• Cume to date: $74.8 million
No. 8: The Departed (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $2.6 million (-50%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 1,611 (-599)
• Per-theater average: $1,617
• Cume to date: $113.8 million
No. 10: The Queen (Miramax, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.3 million (-15%)
• Weeks opened: 8
• Theaters: 606 (+122)
• Per-theater average: $3,795
• Cume to date: $17.2 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Let’s Go to Prison (Universal, R)
• Gross: $2.1 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,495
• Per-theater average: $1,410
Fast Food Nation (Fox Searchlight, R)
• Gross: $390,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 321
• Per-theater average: $1,215
Bobby (MGM, R)
• Gross: $67,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2
• Per-theater average: $33,500
