Super Bowl weekend is always a slow one for movies, but this one provided the weakest box office numbers in 15 years. It probably didn’t help that the genre offering THE ROOMMATE was a derivative mess made for teenage girls – but that didn’t stop the flick from opening at #1 with $15.6 million.
THE ROOMMATE was destroyed by the critics; it currently sits at an embarrassing 8% on Rotten Tomatoes and The Arrow tore it apart here. It opened much lower than Sony’s similarly awful Super Bowl weekend genre offerings of years past, including WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, BOOGEYMAN, and DARKNESS FALLS.
Opening at #2 was Alister Grierson’s SANCTUM. Apparently having James Cameron’s name plastered all over it wasn’t enough, as the picture only brought in about $9.2 million. 84% of its gross came from 3D screenings, but it didn’t come anywhere near its $30 million budget. In fact, this is one of the lowest openings for a widely released 3D movie.
Meanwhile, Mikael Håfström’s THE RITE – which opened at #1 last weekend – dropped some 62% for an estimated $5.6 million, landing it at #6. Typical for a genre flick. Darren Aronofsky’s BLACK SWAN is still hanging on at #10.
There are no alternatives for the genre lover on Valentine’s Day next weekend. Instead, the box office is sure to be dominated by Justin Bieber’s NEVER SAY NEVER, the Adam Sandler vehicle JUST GO WITH IT, and the animated GNOMEO & JULIET. Now that is horror!
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
| 1. The Roommate | $ 15.6 Million | NEW |
| 2. Sanctum | $ 9.2 Million | NEW |
| 3. No Strings Attached |
$ 8.4 Million | $ 51.8 Million |
| 4. The King’s Speech | $ 8.3 Million | $ 84.1 Million |
| 5. The Green Hornet | $ 6.1 Million | $ 87.2 Million |
| 6. The Rite |
$ 5.6 Million | $ 23.7 Million |
| 7. The Mechanica |
$ 5.4 Million | $ 20.1 Million |
| 8. True Grit |
$ 4.8 Million | $ 155 Million |
| 9. The Dilemma | $ 3.4 Million | $ 45.7 Million |
| 10. Black Swan | $ 3.4 Million | $ 95.9 Million |
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