With 3D and IMAX releases becoming more and more common, we thought it’d be interesting to show you how Sony Pictures Animation’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs got to first place this weekend, earning $30,304,648 from 3,119 theaters.
First up, here is the official release from RealD regarding the 3D release:
In the widest theatrical 3D film release to date, approximately $16 million in 3D box office was generated by Columbia Pictures’ and Sony Pictures Animation’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in theatres equipped with RealD’s leading 3D cinema platform. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs earned an estimated $30.3 million in total box office and debuted at #1 during its opening weekend. The box office generated in theatres with RealD technology accounted for over 50% of the weekend’s receipts. The film was released in 3,119 locations, and the majority of the playdates were RealD and other 3D bookings.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a terrific film with innovative and creative 3D techniques. This is a tremendous victory for our colleagues at Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation and for our worldwide network of exhibitor partners,” said Michael V. Lewis, CEO of RealD. “With over $16 million, RealD 3D continued the trend of delivering the majority of box office gross for opening weekend proving once again that audiences everywhere prefer the 3D experience to any other.”
We’ve also got the official IMAX numbers:
IMAX Corporation today announced that Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs opened with strong box office results, generating approximately $2.4 million from 127 IMAX(R) theatres during the weekend from Friday, September 18 through Sunday, September 20, marking the biggest September opening for an IMAX release. The IMAX(R) 3D locations generated a per screen average of approximately $20,000.
The version of the film playing in 127 IMAX(R) 3D locations was digitally re-mastered from Sony Pictures Animation’s Stereoscopic 3D master into the state-of-the-art image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience(R) with IMAX DMR(R) (Digital Re-Mastering) technology.
“Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs is a fantastic family film that is resonating with moviegoers who are clearly taking advantage of the opportunity to experience the film in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide theatrical distribution for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“We’re very pleased with how the film opened, especially for this time of year,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “Given the positive word of mouth and the fact that family films typically show strong legs in IMAX, we believe it will continue to have a good run in 2D and 3D formats.”
“This is our biggest September opening, and we’re happy to see that 17 of the top 20 grossing locations included IMAX theatres,” added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “We congratulate our partners at Sony and look forward to entertaining moviegoers with this fun family 3D adventure over the next few weeks.”
A lot of 3D and IMAX records are expected to be broken on December 18 when a little movie opens. It will be interesting to see what the breakdown will be then.
