Former Miramax bosses Bob and Harvey Weinstein must be having a field day.Scary Movie 4, the first major release under their new Weinstein Co. banner, opened big at the North American box office, grossing a whopping $41 million over the holiday weekend.
It’s the best Easter weekend debut ever, beating Panic Room, which opened in 2002 to the tune of $30.1 million.
With the success of Scary Movie 4, Bob Weinstein told The Associated Press he hopes to have a fifth film in the horror-spoof franchise in theaters over Easter weekend next year. “I say the Weinsteins should be getting Scary Movie 5 through 10 ready right away,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations added.
Ice Age: The Meltdown, which had been the box office champ for the last weeks, slipped to second place with $20 million, while the other animated newcomer, Disney’s The Wild, debuted at No. 4 with $9.6 million. Fox Searchlight’s acclaimed satire Thank You for Smoking, a hit in limited release, expanded nationwide to claim eighth spot with $4.45 million.
The Top 12 films this week grossed an estimated $109.9 million, up 6.98 percent from last weekend’s total of $102.8 million and up 23.05 percent from last year’s draw of $89.3 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Sony Pictures PG-13 Guess Who, which debuted at No. 1 with $20.6 million in 3,147 theaters, averaging $6,569 per theater; Warner Bros. PG-13 Miss Congeniality 2, which opened in second place with $14 million in 3,233 theaters, averaging $4,344 per theaters; and Dreamworks R-rated The Ring Two, which dropped to third place in its second week with $13.6 million in 3,341 theaters, averaging $4,076 per theaters (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Scary Movie 4 (Weinstein Co., PG-13)
• Gross: $41 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,602
• Per-theater average: $11,388
No. 2: Ice Age: The Meltdown (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $20 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,873 (-96)
• Per-theater average: $5,164
• Cume to date: $147.1 million
No. 3: The Benchwarmers (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $10 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,282 (+8)
• Per-theater average: $3,349
• Cume to date: $19.6 million
No. 4: The Wild (Disney, G)
• Gross: $9.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,854
• Per-theater average: $3,349
No. 5: Take the Lead (New Line Cinema, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.7 million (-44%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,009 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,227
• Cume to date: $22.5million
No. 6: Inside Man (Universal, R)
• Gross: $6.3 million (-31%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,477 (-390)
• Per-theater average: $2,543
• Cume to date: $75.3 million
No. 7: Lucky Number Slevin (MGM, R)
• Gross: $4.6 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,989 (+5)
• Per-theater average: $2,313
• Cume to date: $14.1 million
No. 8: Thank You for Smoking (Fox Searchlight, R)
• Gross: $4.4 million (+93%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 1,015 (+716)
• Per-theater average: $4,384
• Cume to date: $11.4 million
No. 9: Failure to Launch (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.5 million (-37%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 1,950 (-666)
• Per-theater average: $1,333
• Cume to date: $83.1 million
No. 10: V for Vendetta (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $2.1 million (-36%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 1,380 (-623)
• Per-theater average: $1,572
• Cume to date: $65.9 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Kinky Boots (Miramax, PG-13)
• Gross: $81,100
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 9
• Per-theater average: $9,011
Hard Candy (Lions Gate, R)
• Gross: $60,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2
• Per-theater average: $30,000
