Superbad proved to be super cool at the North American box office this weekend, coming in at No.1 with $31.2 million, pushing last week’s champ, Rush Hour 3, down to second place with $21.8 million.
Superbad producer Judd Apatow and his collaborators, Knocked Up star and Superbad co-writer and co-star Seth Rogen, have a knack for mixing crude R-rated humor with clever, authentic dialogue–something moviegoers are lapping up.
“The Apatow comedy machine itself is a brand now, and it’s a brand that has created movies that appeal to older audiences who now follow whatever he does, even in the teen genre, which is very unusual,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers, told The Associated Press.
The sci-fi tale The Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, also opened this weekend, rounding out the Top Five with $6 million, while the actioner The Last Legion, set in ancient Rome, failed to make the top 10, debuting with just $2.6 million.
The Top 12 movies took in $110.4 million, up 20.83 percent from last year’s total of $91.4 million but down 21.01 percent from last weekend’s total of $139.8 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year: New Line’s Snakes on a Plane, which opened at No. 1 with $15.2 million in 3,555 theaters, averaging $4,277 per theater; Sony’s Talladega Nights , which dropped to second place in its second week with $13.7 million in 3,741 theaters, averaging $3,677 per theater; and Paramount’s World Trade Center, which stayed in third place in its second week with $10.9 million in 2,998 theaters, averaging $3,636 per theater (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10 ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Superbad (Sony, R)
• Gross: $31.2 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,948
• Per-theater average: $10,583
No. 2: Rush Hour 3 (New Line, PG-13)
• Gross: $21.8 million (-56%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,778 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $5,778
• Cume to date: $88.1 million
No. 3: The Bourne Supremacy (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $18.9 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,701 (+15)
• Per-theater average: $5,130
• Cume to date: $163.8 million
No. 4: The Simpsons Movie (Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.6 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,162 (-390)
• Per-theater average: $2,111
• Cume to date: $165.1 million
No. 5: The Invasion (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $6 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,776
• Per-theater average: $2,163
No. 6: Stardust (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.2 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,565
• Per-theater average: $2,044
• Cume to date: $19 million
No. 7: Hairspray (New Line, PG)
• Gross: $4.2 million (-33%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,389 (-416)
• Per-theater average: $1,789
• Cume to date: $100.5 million
No. 8: Underdog (Walt Disney, PG)
• Gross: $3.6 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,551 (-462)
• Per-theater average: $1,416
• Cume to date: $31.6 million
No. 9: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $3.5 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 1,955 (-630)
• Per-theater average: $1,811
• Cume to date: $278.6 million
No. 10: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $3.4 million (-40%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,258 (-541)
• Per-theater average: $1,550
• Cume to date: $110.3 million
OTHER OPENINGS
The Last Legion (Weinstein Co., PG-13)
• Gross: $2.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,002
• Per-theater average: $1,297
Death at a Funeral (MGM, R)
• Gross: $1.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 260
• Per-theater average: $5,012
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (Picturehouse, PG-13)
• Gross: $50,294
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 5
• Per-theater average: $10,059
The 11th Hour (Warner Indie, PG)
• Gross: $42,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 4
• Per-theater average: $10,500
