Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Escape to Couples Retreat

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Documentary, Family, Independent, Music, Political, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists,

Depending on how you look at the numbers, the winner this weekend was either Couples Retreat or Paranormal Activity.

In the comedy corner, we have a Peter Billingsley-directed film that earned $35.3 million and a first-place finish. The movie - which combined the efforts of Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Jason Bateman - pulled in the best numbers for any Columbus Day weekend entry ever. It also gave Vaughn his 2nd best opening behind The Break-Up.

Meanwhile, on the horror front, Paranormal Activity made a huge splash despite being in limited release. The Blair Witch-esque movie scared up a shocking $49,000 per screen average. It also raked in nearly 500 times more than its budget. (It only cost less than $16,000 to produce.)

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Box Office Breakdown: No Sluggish Start for Zombieland

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Music, Political, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists,

Watch out, vampires…there’s still life in the other undead.

Although he was previously known as a director for Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ruben Fleischer now has a new title: box office champ. This past weekend, Ruben saw his first major feature, Zombieland, attack the competition with a $24.7 million debut. The movie - which only cost approximately $24 million to make - had the highest open for any zombie-themed flick since Dawn of the Dead in 2004.

Meanwhile, another director had an entirely different result with her debut feature. Whip It, a roller derby comedy helmed by Drew Barrymore, rolled into 6th place finish with only $4.7 million. (When your film’s been topped by Pixar entries from 10+ years ago, there might have a problem.) Hopefully in a few more weeks, the Ellen Page vehicle will at least cover its $15 million production tab.

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Box Office Breakdown: Meatballs Rolls to Another Victory

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Lionsgate, Sony, Touchstone, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Music, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,

Surrogates was no substitute for meatballs.

Despite competition from a Bruce Willis film, a music-based remake and a sci-fi horror entry, A Cloudy Chance of Meatballs remained the theatergoers’ order of choice for the second week in a row. The children’s book adaptation had Sony dining to the tune of $25 million—over $10 million more than the second place finisher.

Many thought Willis, who hasn’t had a major role since 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard, was on track to take first this weekend. Unfortunately, his

movie was considered a big letdown given its $15 million gross and $80 million budget. Meanwhile, Fame, a remake of the 1980 hit, had no one feeling like they wanted to live forever. The MGM feature only rung up $10 million for third place.

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In Theaters This Weekend: September 25, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: IFC Films, MGM, Miramax, Paramount, Sony, Touchstone, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Horror, Musicals, Period, Political, Remakes, Science Fiction, Comedy, Lists, New Releases,

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Fame (PG): starring Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth (directed by Kevin Tancharoen)
• Pandorum (R): starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet (directed by Christian Alvert)
• Surrogates (PG-13): starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike (directed by Jonathan Mostow)

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