The November box office became divine this weekend as the stylish swords-and-sandals epic Immortals defied expectations and rose to the number one spot. In second, Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill didn’t quite reach the top of the hill, but didn’t come tumbling down either. Sleeper hit Puss in Boots again charmed movies goers with a stellar third week.
Showing little of the immobility of its imprisoned characters, Relativity Media’s Immortals climbed to number one with a stellar gross of $32.6 million. This amount easily broke through earlier projections which had this stylized battle of the gods coming in in the mid $20-million range. Friday saw a whopping take of $14.8 million before dropping off over the remainder of the weekend. This is both an indicator that those interested rushed out opening day and that reaction was mixed for the R-rated clash.
Speaking of its rating,
the opening of Immortals was the
third best of the year and the top dog for a non-sequel behind only The Hangover Part II and Paranormal Activity 3. International
audiences were also won over by the action-heavy trailers and abundance of
unique flair, collecting $38 million in just a handful of territories for an
early global start of $72.6 million.
Opening more like Funny People than Grown Ups, Adam Sandler’s duel-role comedy Jack and Jill debuted to $25 million, which was the lowest opening for a broad comedy from the funnyman in the last 10 years. Audiences clearly have some limit to how idiotic a premise can get despite his continued popularity, but these types of films always seem to have decent legs so expect a final gross far higher than deserved.
Even after a tiny
sophomore dip, DreamWorks’ Puss in Boots again only retreated a
hair, stealing away $24.7 million for a three-week tally of $108 million and a
worldwide total of $157 million. The magic combination of no new family films
and solid buzz again reigned supreme.
The Top Ten
1. Immortals - $32.6M (weekend)...$32.6M (gross)
2. Jack and Jill - $25.0M...$25.0M
3. Puss in Boots - $24.7M...$108.0M
4. Tower Heist - $12.8M...$43.7M
5. J. Edgar - $11.2M...$11.2M
6. A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas - $5.9M...$23.2M
7. In Time - $4.1M...$30.6M
8. Paranormal Activity 3 - $3.5M...$100.8M
9. Footloose - $2.7...$48.7
10.Real Steel - $1.7M...$81.6M
The final new release of the weekend, Clint Eastwood’s biopic J. Edgar did solid business despite middling reviews, grossing $11.2 million, which was good enough for a $5,873 per theater average. This debut was bang-on with a number of Eastwood’s recent starts including $12 million for Hereafter, $8.6 million for Invictus and $10.2 million for Flags of our Fathers. On the acting side, however, this served as a lower-than-average take for A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio.
Other notable showings throughout the top ten included a decent 47-percent hold for Tower Heist and a $3.6-million gross for Paranormal Activity 3, which shot past the century mark in four weeks.
As November ticks on, two films blaze into theaters each with theater counts in the 3,500-plus range beginning with animated sequel Happy Feet Two in 3,600 theaters. And expect nothing more than a colossal showing for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 which sucks up 4,000-plus theaters and aims to give the opening weekend of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 a run for its money.