Third time’s a charm. Resident Evil: Extinction, the third installment in the video game-turned-movie franchise, opened No. 1 at the North American box office with a $24 million take–the series’ highest grosser to date.
“Until the next,” joked Rory Bruer, Sony’s head of distribution to The Associated Press. “It absolutely would not surprise me considering the success of the franchise that they find a way to come up with another. It’s a real possibility.”
The Dane Cook–Jessica Alba comedy Good Luck Chuck debuted in second place with $14 million, while Sydney White, starring Amanda Bynes as a college freshman who teams with frat house dorks in a fight against campus snobs, premiered in sixth position with $5.3 million.
This week’s Top Five movies all had R ratings, which is unusual in a movie market generally dominated by PG-13 flicks. “The Rs have it this weekend,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers told AP. “That makes sense in this fall season, when grittier, more intense films are released.”
The Top 12 movies took in a total of $80.5 million, down 2.02 percent from last year’s total of $82.2 million but up 25.22 percent from last weekend’s total of $64.3 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year: Paramount’s Jackass: Number Two, which opened at No. 1 with $29 million in 3,059 theaters, averaging $9,481 per theater; Focus/Rogue’s Jet Li’s Fearless, which opened in second place with $10.5 million in 1,808 theaters, averaging $5,857 per theater; and Sony’s Gridiron Gang, which dropped to third in its second week with $9.4 million in 3,510 theaters, averaging $2,694 per theater (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10 ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony/Screen Gems, R)
• Gross: $24 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,828
• Per-theater average: $8,487
No. 2: Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate, R)
• Gross: $14 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,612
• Per-theater average: $5,360
No. 3: The Brave One (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $7.4 million (-45%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,755 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,695
• Cume to date: $25.1 million
No. 4: 3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate, R)
• Gross: $6.3 million (-29%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,902 (+235)
• Per-theater average: $2,188
• Cume to date: $37.9 million
No. 5: Eastern Promises (Focus Features, R)
• Gross: $5.7 million (+950%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,404 (+1,389)
• Per-theater average: $36,845
• Cume to date: $547, 092
No. 6: Sydney White (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,104
• Per-theater average: $2,530
No. 7: Mr. Woodcock (New Line, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.9 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,237 (+6)
• Per-theater average: $2,224
• Cume to date: $15.7 million
No. 8: Superbad (Sony, R)
• Gross: $3.1 million (-39%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,305 (-605)
• Per-theater average: $1,345
• Cume to date: $116.1 million
No. 9: The Bourne Supremacy (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.7 million (-32%)
• Weeks opened: 8
• Theaters:2,009 (-602)
• Per-theater average: $1,390
• Cume to date: $220.1 million
No. 10: Dragon Wars (Freestyle Releasing, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.5 million (50%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,246
• Per-theater average: $1,119
• Cume to date: $8.5 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Across the Universe (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $2 million
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 276 (+253)
• Per-theater average: $7,428
• Cume to date: $2.9 million
In the Valley of Elah (Warner Indie, R)
• Gross: $1.2 million
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 317 (+308)
• Per-theater average: $15,333
• Cume to date: $6.5 million
Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage, R)
• Gross: $206,596
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 4
• Per-theater average: $51,649
The Jane Austen Book Club (Sony Classics, PG-13)
• Gross: $160,520
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 25
• Per-theater average: $6,421
The Assassination of Jesse James (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $144,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 5
• Per-theater average: $28,800
