Box Office Analysis, March 26: Cowabunga! ‘TMNT’ Takes the Lead

Let’s hear it for the Ninja Turtles! TMNT, a computer-animated update of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, debuted at the top of the North American box office with $25.4 million, pushing reigning champ 300 down to second with $20.5 million.
“It’s sequel time, dudes,” Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., which is distributing TMNT overseas, told The Associated Press. “We knew from the inception of this project that that the TMNT characters would continue to resonate with audiences across the world.”
The slew of openers this week dominated the rest of the top 10. The thriller Shooter, starring Mark Wahlberg, opened in third place with $14.5 million, while the horror sequel The Hills Have Eyes 2, about National Guard troops who stumble on a clan of mutant cannibals, opened in sixth with $10 million.
The family fantasy The Last Mimzy premiered in seventh place with $10.2 million, while Adam Sandler’s dramatic detour Reign Over Me checked in at No. 8 with $8 million. And finally, the sports tale Pride, starring Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac, debuted in ninth with $4 million.
The total box office grosses continued its upward swing for the fourth weekend in a row. The Top 12 movies grossed $124.9 million over the weekend, up 27.79 percent from last year’s draw of $97.8 million and up 19.07 percent from last weekend’s total of $104.9 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Universal’s Inside Man, which opened at No. 1 with $28.9 million in 2,818 theaters, averaging $10,275 per theater; Warner Bros.’ V for Vendetta, which dropped to second place in its second week with $12.3 million in 3,365 theaters, averaging $3,667 per theater; and Buena Vista’s Stay Alive, which opened in third place with $10.7 million in 2,009 theaters, averaging $5,339 per theater (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES:
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: TMNT (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $25.4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,110
• Per-theater average: $8,183
No. 2: 300 (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $20.5 million (-38%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,280 (+10)
• Per-theater average: $6,253
• Cume to date: $162.3 million
No. 3: Shooter (Paramount, R)
• Gross: $14.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,806
• Per-theater average: $5,168
No. 4: Wild Hogs (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $14.3 million (-25%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,401 (+41)
• Per-theater average: $4,223
• Cume to date: $123.8 million
No. 5: Premonition (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $10.1 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,831 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,568
• Cume to date: $32.1 million
No. 6: The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Fox Atomic, R)
• Gross: $10 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,447
• Per-theater average: $4,087
No. 7: The Last Mimzy (New Line, PG)
• Gross: $9.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,017
• Per-theater average: $3,149
No. 8: Reign Over Me (Sony, R)
• Gross: $8 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,671
• Per-theater average: $4,788
No. 9: Pride (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,518
• Per-theater average: $2,635
No. 10: Dead Silence (Universal, R)
• Gross: $3.4 million (-56%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,806 (+1)
• Per-theater average: $1,920
• Cume to date: $13.2 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Color Me Kubrick (Magnolia, NR)
• Gross: $37,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 19
• Per-theater average: $1,947
First Snow (Yari Film Group, R)
• Gross: $19,051
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 5
• Per-theater average: $3,810