Will Ferrell and Jon Heder pair figure-skated for the gold this weekend. Their comedy Blades of Glory debuted at the top of the North American box office with $33 million–the second biggest opener for Will Ferrell behind Talladega Nights, which opened last summer with $47 million.
Disney’s animated adventure Meet the Robinsons opened in second place with $25.1 million. “This is still a good weekend, a pretty healthy one-two punch with Blades of Glory and Meet the Robinsons at the top,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers, told The Associated Press.
The previous weekend’s top movie–animated tale TMNT–slipped to fourth place with $9.2 million, down a steep 62 percent from its $24.3 million debut.
After a monthlong surge, the overall box office declined. The Top 12 movies grossed $115 million over the weekend, down 12.91 percent from last year’s draw of $132 million and down 5.16 percent from last weekend’s total of $121.2 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: 20th Century Fox’s Ice Age: The Meltdown, which opened at No. 1 with $68 million in 3,964 theaters, averaging $17,163 per theater; Universal’s Inside Man, which dropped to second place in its second week with $15.4 million in 2,830 theaters, averaging $5,455 per theater; and Warner Bros. ATL, which opened in third place with $11.5 million in 1,602 theaters, averaging $7,212 per theater
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES:
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Blades of Glory (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $33 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,372
• Per-theater average: $9,786
No. 2: Meet the Robinsons (Buena Vista, G)
• Gross: $25 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,413
• Per-theater average: $7,341
No. 3: 300 (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $11.1 million (-44%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,004 (-276)
• Per-theater average: $3,713
• Cume to date: $179.6 million
No. 4: TMNT (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $9.1 million (-62%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,120 (+10)
• Per-theater average: $2,936
• Cume to date: $38.4 million
No. 5: Wild Hogs (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $8.3 million (-39%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 3,200 (-201)
• Per-theater average: $2,622
• Cume to date: $135.3 million
No. 6: Shooter (Paramount, R)
• Gross: $8 million (-45%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,806 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,851
• Cume to date: $27.2 million
No. 7: Premonition (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.1 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,474 (-357)
• Per-theater average: $2,061
• Cume to date: $39.3 million
No. 8: The Last Mimzy (New Line, PG)
• Gross: $4 million (-60%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,017 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,326
• Cume to date: $16.2 million
No. 9: The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Fox Atomic, R)
• Gross: $15.8 million (-59%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,465 (+18)
• Per-theater average: $1,592
• Cume to date: $15.8 million
No. 10: Reign Over Me (Sony, R)
• Gross: $3.7 million
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,671 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,214
• Cume to date: $13.3 million
OTHER OPENINGS
The Lookout (Miramax, R)
• Gross: $2 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 955
• Per-theater average: $2,102
After the Wedding (IFC Films, R)
• Gross: $44,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 5
• Per-theater average: $8,800