The Crazies, Cop Out open strong
Posted: March 5, 2010 at 3:09 a.m.
LOS ANGELES — Shutter Island easily topped the boxoffice chart last weekend, selling a studio-estimated $22.6 million worth of tickets in the United States and Canada from Friday through Sunday.
Of the two new nationwide movies, Warner Bros.’ Cop Out performed better, collecting $18.2 million, while Overture Films’ horror remake The Crazies brought in $16 million.
That’s actually a stronger start for Crazies, however, which cost Overture and its financing partners just under $20 million to produce, while Warner spent nearly $40 million to make Cop Out, the Kevin Smith-directed buddy comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.
Moviegoing was sharply curtailed by another major snowstorm in the Northeast on Feb. 26, which kept many at home.
Shutter Island has grossed $75.5 million in its first 10 days and is on track to roughly match the total of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s last collaboration, The Departed, which finished its domestic run with $132.4 million. That’s an impressive performance given that many R-rated dramas have fared poorly at the box office in the recent past, including The Wolfman, Brothers and The Informant.
Paramount Pictures should end up in good shape on Shutter Island, which one person close to the production said cost close to $100 million to make, although a representative said the cost after tax credits was $75 million.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Shutter can come anywhere close to the $157.5 million international box office total of The Departed. After opening in 20 foreign territories so far, including France, Germany and Australia, Shutter Island has taken in $34 million. Major markets including Britain, Japan and all of Latin America are yet to come.
In limited release, RomanPolanski’s political drama The Ghost Writer continued to perform well on its second weekend, expanding from four to 43 theaters and taking in a healthy $789,000, bringing its total to $1 million.
Columbia Pictures Classics debuted French best foreign language film Oscar nominee A Prophet at nine theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Montreal to a solid $170,000.
BOX OFFICEThe top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are: 1. Shutter Island, Paramount, $22,665,205, 3,003 locations, $7,548 average, $75,541,271, two weeks.
2. Cop Out, Warner Bros., $18,211,126, 3,150 locations, $5,781 average, $18,211,126, one week.
3. The Crazies, Overture, $16,067,552, 2,477 locations, $6,487 average, $16,067,552, one week.
4. Avatar, 20th Century Fox, $13,655,274, 2,456 locations, $5,560 average, $706,560,068, 11 weeks.
5. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, 20th Century Fox, $9,583,421, 3,302 locations, $2,902 average, $70,998,280, three weeks.
6. Valentine’s Day, Warner Bros., $9,063,036, 3,578 locations, $2,533 average, $99,916,240, three weeks.
7. Dear John, Columbia Screen Gems, $4,808,498, 3,006 locations, $1,600 average, $72,432,096, four weeks.
8. The Wolfman, Universal, $4,259,865, 3,043 locations, $1,400 average, $57,380,125, three weeks.
9. Tooth Fairy, 20th Century Fox, $3,425,333, 2,249 locations, $1,523 average, $53,841,454, six weeks.
10. Crazy Heart, Fox Searchlight,$2,462,384, 1,148 locations, $2,145 average, $25,009,496, 11 weeks.
11. The Blind Side, Warner Bros., $1,238,477, 945 locations, $1,311 average, $248,755,981, 15 weeks.
12.The Book of Eli, Warner Bros., $1,112,493, 975 locations, $1,141 average, $92,506,955, seven weeks.
13. From Paris With Love, Lionsgate, $1,055,240, 1,278 locations, $826 average, $23,324,666, four weeks.
14. Edge of Darkness, Warner Bros., $1,017,209, 1,255 locations, $811 average, $42,170,286, five weeks.
15. When in Rome, Disney, $1,003,452, 930 locations, $1,079 average, $30,861,655, five weeks.
16. The Last Station, Columbia Pictures Classics, $970,048, 352 locations, $2,756 average, $3,340,876, seven weeks.
17. Up in the Air, Paramount, $802,081, 586 locations, $1,369 average, $82,078,918,13 weeks.
18. The Ghost Writer, Summit, $789,064, 43 locations, $18,350 average, $1,048,233, two weeks.
19. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, 20th Century Fox, $771,315, 707 locations, $1,091 average, $216,556,931, 10 weeks.
20. Sherlock Holmes, Warner Bros., $608,032, 462 locations, $1,316 average, $206,419,248, 10 weeks.
MovieStyle, Pages 36 on 03/05/2010
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