Chronicle has the power!
It may be Super Bowl weekend, but people obviously had plenty of time to check out a movie or two before kickoff. The new superpowered-teen “found footage” flick CHRONICLE just barely grabbed the top spot with a $22 million opening, performing better than expected (particularly on a $12M budget) and getting high marks from critics.
Daniel Radcliffe put away his wizard wand for some old-school Gothic chills in THE WOMAN IN BLACK, making a tight race for #1 but coming in a close second with $21M (although with such a slim margin in today’s estimates, it’s entirely possible those positions could switch tomorrow when the actual results are totaled).
Either way, not a bad debut for the week’s other modestly budgeted thriller, although I’d be curious to know how many ticket-buyers were Harry Potter fans just following Radcliffe, and how many were only seeking a good scare regardless of who was starring.
The weekend’s other new release, Drew Barrymore’s whale-saving drama BIG MIRACLE, swam into fourth with $8.5M (on around 1000 fewer screens than each of the three movies above it). Most of the others on the chart experienced a drop around 50% with last week’s top draw, Liam Neeson’s frosty survival tale THE GREY, sliding to third place with another $9.5M.
George Lucas’ RED TAILS is still sputtering along, MAN ON A LEDGE is dangling by its fingers, and Katherine Heigl’s ONE FOR THE MONEY makes us wonder why she still gets leading roles, while UNDERWORLD: AWAKENINGS has staked out a spot in the top 5 in its third week (the fanged action flick is approaching $100 worldwide). For the awards-buzzed, THE DESCENDANTS is still performing best, adding another $4.6M as apparent fave THE ARTIST still struggles to get into the Top 10.
Next weekend throws some high-profile talent into the fight: Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds face off in SAFE HOUSE, Dwayne Johnson drags Michael Caine to CG-land in the pseudo-sequel JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, Channing Tatum romances his amnesiac wife Rachel McAdams in THE VOW, and Darth Maul wants your dough for a 3D re-release of STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE. What’s your favorite “found footage” movie? VOTE HERE!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chronicle | $22 M | NEW |
| 2 | The Woman in Black | $21 M | NEW |
| 3 | The Grey | $9.5 M | $34.7 M |
| 4 | Big Miracle | $8.5 M | NEW |
| 5 | Underworld: Awakening | $5.6 M | $54.3 M |
| 6 | Red Tails | $5 M | $41.3 M |
| 7 | One for the Money | $5.2 M | $19.6 M |
| 8 | The Descendants | $4.6 M | $65.5 M |
| 9 | Man on a Ledge | $4.5 M | $14.7 M |
| 10 | Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close | $3.9 M | $26.7 M |
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