Who woulda thunk it? Seriously, did anyone think that a Hannah Montana concert movie, with a presentation limited to 3D equipped theaters? Anyway, it set pre-sale records and became one of a select few films to open north of $20 million with a spread of fewer than 1,000 theaters, and the only one to top the $30 million plateau. The only others I can think of are Borat and Fahrenheit 9/11, and this one beat out both of their opening grosses on fewer screens.
The opening has been so good that what was billed as a one-week only engagement has been extended for a second weekend with the possibility for more, depending on continued support. And here I was thinking it would have a good showing with $10 million. Wow.
Coming in second place is the latest Asian horror remake, The Eye. Surprisingly, it was a halfway decent film filled with a creepy atmosphere and a nice slow burn build. Unfortunately, it is not supported by a quality screenplay. I suspect it will slip rather quickly over the next couple of weeks. It is, however, much more worthy of being seen than the last Asian remake, One Missed Call.
There were two other new releases hitting wide release this past weekend, but neither had the strength to reach the top ten. First up is the Eva Longoria vehicle, Over Her Dead Body. I thought for sure it would have a decent opening. I guess I was wrong, as it opened with a lackluster $4 million to place eleventh.
Opening even worse than that is the Happy Madison production Strange Wilderness, opening with $3 million and placing twelfth. To put that into perspective, Strange Wilderness opened at over 1,200 theaters while Hannah Montana opened at 683. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
Among the returning films, it was either feast or famine. Three films dropped more than 60% from last week. One of those films was last week's top earner, Meet the Spartans (please let it just go away as quickly as possible). Right on its tail is Rambo, a wild action film that deserves to do better than it is. It is a spectacularly violent action film. Finally, another excellent film that inspires a love/hate reaction, Cloverfield. It opened strong, but is fading very fast.
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