That’s it, that’s enough. The founding fathers had it wrong. All men aren’t created equal. Some choose to spend their money on things that make them better. And some willingly pay for “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” The proudly ignorant rape of celluloid again tied for a position atop the box office, scoring $42.5 million for a domestic total of $293 million. Making money at a cartoonish rate, the film only needed a week and a half to surpass “Up” as the year’s highest grossing picture, as entertainment options for moviegoers proved slim, President Barack Obama apparently ordering all libraries, museums and video rental stores to be closed for the holiday weekend.
Debuting at what is being estimated as a tie for first was “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” It’s a major face saving move to overestimate the film’s opening weekend, since it’s a huge black eye to not take 60% out of “Transformers”‘s opening and not take #1. We’re not sure what it was, but it does seem Fox dialed down their expectations for this one, as promotion seemed slim, and the $67.5 million five-day opening seems below-standard for big budget CGI toons. The last film debuted with $68 million on a three-day weekend- perhaps the franchise outlived its usefulness? It’s sure to have legs, as all ‘toons do, but with “Up” still performing, is there a chance CG-toon-craving audiences will eventually opt for “Up” over the tired-sounding “Ice Age”‘s third weekend? Coming in at #3 was Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies,” which took in $26.2 million for the three day, finishing its five-day weekend at $41 million. Audience reaction seems to be similar to that of Mann’s “Miami Vice,” which dropped 60% in its second weekend, and if “Enemies” can’t coast over $100 million domestically, there might be some truth to the recent rumors of Mann being done at big studios- at the least, he’ll probably be forced to do a comic book movie or sequel or something.
After dropping half of it audience in its second weekend, “The Proposal” boasted a muscular 69% hold with $12.8 million, good for fourth place. Soon to cross $100 million, its bound to hold over well enough until its chief competitor, “The Ugly Truth,” hits in three weeks. “The Hangover,” meanwhile, crossed $200 million this weekend, and it will surpass “The Wedding Crashers”‘s $209 million score by midweek. With “Ice Age” in theaters, “Up” took its first sizable hit, losing half its audience to gross $6.6 million, bringing its total to $265 million. “My Sister’s Keeper” looks like the deadest fish in the water, losing 57% of its audience for a two week total of $26 mil.
Sony’s quit on the badly-bleeding “Year One” to get “The Taking Of Pelham 123” to $70 million (it clocks in shy of $60 this weekend), while out of the top ten, “Star Trek” brought it’s total to a shade under $250. “Away We Go” edged it’s cume past $6 million, while “Whatever Works” expanded not too impressively to the tune of $1.1 million with a $3k per screen average. “Moon” expanded to a little under fifty theaters for a $300k gross on a $6k per screen average, while “The Hurt Locker” might be the week’s biggest success. It’s business dropped slightly despite an expansion into nine theaters, but it brought in $126k, scoring a $14k per screen average, easily the best of any film this week.
1. Transformers: The Decline Of Western Civilization- $42.5 million ($293 mil)
1. Ice Age: Historically Inaccurate- $42.5 million ($67 mil)
3. Public Enemies- $26 million ($41 mil)
4. The Proposal- $12.8 million ($91 mil)
5. The Hangover- $10.4 million ($204 mil)
6. Up- $6.6 million ($265 mil)
7. John Cassavetes Birthed A Hack- $5.3 million ($26 mil)
8. The Taking Of Pelham 8, 9, 11- $2.5 million ($58 mil)
9. Night At The Museum: Battle At The Smithsonian- $2.1 million ($168 mil)
10. Year One- $2.1 million ($38 mil)
