Guess you can’t keep a good zombie movie down. Collecting some seriously great word of mouth, the horror comedy Zombieland opened in the top spot at the box office this weekend with $24.7 million.
Here are the top five at the box office this weekend:
1. NEW! Zombieland (Sony) – $24.7 mil; 3,036 theaters; $8,147 PT
2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony) – $15.8 mil; 2,977 theaters; $5,310 PT; $81.5 mil cume
3. NEW! Toy Story / Toy Story 2 (3D) (Buena Vista) – $12.4 mil; 1,745 theaters; $7,159 PT
4. Surrogates (Buena Vista) – $7.2 mil; 2,951 theaters; $2,454 PT; $26.2 mil cume
5. NEW! The Invention of Lying (Warner Bros.) $7 mil; 1,707 theaters; $4,117 PT
The new 3D releases of Toy Story 1 and 2 also did surprisingly well, given the choices – but then again, those are two of the best animated films ever made, and people always want to see their favorite movies again. I also thought Drew Barrymore’s Whip It would have made the top five, but alas it came in sixth place with $4.6 million. I think that’ll have a bigger DVD shelf life.
This coming weekend is a quiet one as far as openers, with only one major release: the relationship comedy Couples’ Retreat, starring a cast of thousands, including Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis and Jon Favreau. I’m gonna guess this wins the box office even though the trailer might make it look a lot funnier than it is: