Weekend Estimates: District 9 Tops Predictions with Big Opening Weekend
August 16, 2009
District 9 showed that quality is still worth something at the box office this weekend by topping most predictions to score a healthy $37 million opening, according to Sony's estimate released on Sunday morning.
While that's some way behind the $54.7 million earned by G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra last weekend, it was made in almost 1,000 theaters, and at a much lower cost to the studio.
Profitability for the movie seems assured.
The Time Traveler's Wife opened in third place with a decent $19.2 million, just behind G.I. Joe, which fell almost 60% in its second weekend to $22.5 million.
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard did OK, given its weak reviews, earning $5.35 million to place 6th behind Julie & Julia and G-Force, both of which are showing good legs, in spite of their totally different target audiences.
Ponyo opened in line with expectations, with $3.5 million.
That's maybe slightly disappointing given its great reviews, but Animé is still a tough sell in the United States, even for family-friendly fair like this.
Bandslam was the major disappointment of the weekend, scoring $2.25 million in 2,121 theaters, and missing the top ten.
That's particularly disappointing when one considers the that movie ran with an early preview of New Moon, which one would have assumed would boost its box office.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, G-Force, District 9, Julie & Julia, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ), Bandslam