Weekend Estimates: High School Musical Hits Musical High Note
October 26, 2008
High School Musical 3 made movie history over the weekend, breaking the record for the biggest opening by a musical, according to Disney's figures released on Sunday morning.
Its estimated Friday-Sunday tally was $42 million, which easily tops the previous record holder, Mamma Mia!, which set the record as recently as July, with $27.8 million.
High School Musical is also the third-biggest opener in October, behind Scary Movie 3 and Shark Tale (see complete chart).
The weekend's other big opener, Saw V continued the franchise's remarkably solid record by posting an estimated opening of $30.5 million, almost exactly the same as the previous three Saw movies (see franchise history).
Pride and Glory, meanwhile, was weak, with $6.3 million.
A couple of limited releases made big entrances:
Universal's
The Changeling opened with a little over $500,000 in 15 theaters, while Logo's Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom picked up an estimated $161,000 in just five theaters -- a remarkable performance for a niche genre picture.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Saw V, Changeling, Pride and Glory