You know, before the weekend started, I was thinking about last week’s box office post on what I thought might win. Surrogates had all the best chances, of the new releases, but then I realized Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was probably going to win – and it did, to the gross of $24.6 million. I really did have this conversation with myself, I swear.
Here is the top five at the box office this weekend:
1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony) – $24.6 mil; 3,119 theaters; $7,887 PT; $60 mil cume
2. NEW! Surrogates (Buena Vista) – $15 mil; 2,951 theaters; $5,083 PT
3. NEW! Fame (MGM) – $10 mil; 3,096 theaters; $3,241 PT
4. The Informant! (Warner Bros.) – $6.9 mil; 2,505 theaters; $2,760 PT; $20.9 mil cume
5. Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself (Lionsgate) – $4.7 mil; 2,120 theaters; $2,241 PT; $44.5 mil cume
Poor Disney. Surrogates wasn’t quite the smash hit they probably wanted, or needed (hence maybe the reason Dick Cook was abruptly given the boot), but they still manage to hit it big with their animated/Pixar movies. Wonder how their upcoming The Princess and the Frog will do. Here’s the trailer, what do you think?
As for this coming weekend, we’ve got a few choice selections. First, there’s the dark comedy Zombieland about a group of people (Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Abgail Breslin) whooping some zombie ass. Then there’s The Invention of Lying, in which Ricky Gervais learns he can get whatever he wants simply by lying in a world where everyone tells the truth. And finally Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut set in the world of roller derby in Austin, TX and starring Ellen Page. I’m partial to Whip It (see trailer below), but thinking Zombieland,which is getting great word of mouth, might win out. Then again, there’s always Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs … How’s that for being noncommittal?