Weekend Estimates: Wild Things Roar to $32.5 Million

October 18, 2009

Where The Wild Things Are got off to a strong start over the weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. The Spike Jonze adaptation of the Maurice Sendak book earned a very healthy $30.47 million, according to Warner Bros. estimates, making it one of October's biggest openers (see full list).

Law Abiding Citizen also enjoyed a better-than-expected weekend, and gave Overture there best ever opening with an estimated $21.25 million. (Box office history for Overture Films.) The narrowly beat out Paranormal Activity for second spot, but the grassroots phenomenon continued its incredible run with $20.2 million from just 760 theaters, for an average over $25,000 per theater.

The Stepfather was the biggest miss of the weekend, although it did earn a reasonably decent $12.3 million.

In limited release, A Serious Man expanded to 82 theaters and kept its theater average just above $10,000. An Education averaged just over $14,000 in 19 theaters in its second week. Both movies have more room to expand.

- Weekend Estimates

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Where the Wild Things Are, The Stepfather, An Education, Paranormal Activity, Law Abiding Citizen, A Serious Man