Ghost Rider–the comic-book adaptation starring Nicolas Cage as a flaming skull alter ego–took the top spot at the North American box office this President Day weekend, grossing an impressive four-day total of $51.5 million.
Ghost Rider now stands as the biggest President’s Day opener of all time, as well as the biggest premiere for star Nicolas Cage.
The touching coming-of-age drama Bridge to Terabithia, based on the children’s novel, debuted in second place with $29 million , while the Drew Barrymore–Hugh Grant romantic comedy Music and Lyrics, which opened on Valentine’s Day, came in fourth with $16 million.
The Lionsgate romance Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, opened in fifth place with $, million, a sharp drop from filmmaker Perry’s February releases the last two years, Madea’s Family Reunion, which opened last year with $30 million, and 2005’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which debuted with $21.9 million. The last opener this week, the spy thriller Breach, debuted at in sixth place with $14.3 million.
The Top 12 movies grossed $141.9 million over the weekend, up 28.24 percent from last year’s draw of $110.6 million and up 54.65 percent from last weekend’s total of $91.7 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Buena Vista’s Eight Below, which opened at No. 1 with $20.1 million in 3,066 theaters, averaging $8,144 per theater; 20th Century Fox’s Date Movie, which opened in second place with $19 million in 2,896 theaters, averaging $7,532 per theater; and Sony’s The Pink Panther, which dropped to third place in its second week with $16.7 million in 3,477 theaters, averaging $6,000 per theater (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES: Four-Day Totals
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Ghost Rider (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $51.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,619
• Per-theater average: $14,230
No. 2: Bridge to Terabithia (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $29 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,139
• Per-theater average: $9,239
No. 3: Norbit (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $20.7 million (-51%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,138 (+2)
• Per-theater average: $6,598
• Cume to date: $62.6 million
No. 4: Music and Lyrics (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $16 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,955
• Per-theater average: $5,428
• Cume to date: $21.5 million (opened Wednesday)
No. 5: Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls (Lionsgate, PG-13)
• Gross: $14.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,111
• Per-theater average: $6,774
• Cume to date: $20 million (opened Wednesday)
No. 6: Breach (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $12.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,489
• Per-theater average: $8,290
No. 7: Hannibal Rising (MGM, R)
• Gross: $6.5 million (-58%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,003 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,165
• Cume to date: $23.1 million
No. 8: Because I Said So (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.9 million (-44%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,446 (-83)
• Per-theater average: $2,445
• Cume to date: $34.2 million
No. 9: Night at the Museum (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $4.77 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 9
• Theaters: 2,042 (-660)
• Per-theater average: $2,302
• Cume to date: $238.3 million
No. 10: The Messengers (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.4 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,183 (+1)
• Per-theater average: $2,016
• Cume to date: $31.1 million
