(A typical scene of nuanced, intimate human drama from "2012")
It's the end of the world as we know it, and America's moviegoers feel fine. "2012" raked in $65 million over the weekend by giving audiences what they want: unparalleled global disaster in which no one really important (John Cusack, for example, or that cute l'il dog) gets hurt. The movie played on 6,500 screens in 3,404 theaters (that's a $19,000 per-theater average and a still-impressive $10,000 per-screen average), so there was no place to run. Imagine if "2012" had been released in 3D, as will no doubt be the norm within a few years' time -- we'd all be ducking as Africa sailed past our heads.
That said, the opening take for Roland Emmerich's latest Ragnarok-o-rama washed up just short of "The Day After Tomorrow" ($68.7 million in 2004) and doesn't compare with "Independence Day," which back in 1996 opened with $50 million in less than half the theaters "2012" did.
In second place, the returning "A Christmas Carol" dropped only 26% of its opening week take, both a sign that the 3D extravaganza might have decent legs and an indication that holidays are upon us, no fooling. Coming in fourth, after "The Men Who Stare at Goats," was the surging "Precious," which went art-house wide and expanded from 18 theaters to 174, pulling in an astonishing $6 million and $35,000 per-theater average. Reviews help, and so does Oprah, but the buzz is building from the film itself. It opens (finally) in Boston this Friday; not sure what took it so long. or why Texas is getting the movie before we are.
"Pirate Radio" sank like a rusty tub in a North Atlantic gale: $3 million at 900 theaters. Things look good for Wes Anderson's stop-motion Roald Dahl adaptation "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," though -- it opened at four theaters and averaged $65,000 at each. Again, we're going to have to wait a few weeks for the film to open here, but mostly because Fox (the studio, not the character) wants to take advantage of the long Thanksgiving break. Good luck selling the film to families -- it's as flaky, if not as morose, as "Where the Wild Things Are." That's not to say it isn't very good. I've seen it, and it is. But more on that later.
More grosses at Box Office Mojo and from Leonard Klady at Movie City News.
