The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
It’s not often we see a photo finish horse race for first place at the box office, and when it happens, it’s anyone’s guess how the studios might work things out in the 24 hours between estimates and the actual box office.
That’s what happened this weekend when Shawn Levy’s new comedy Date Night (20th Century Fox), starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell, opened against the second weekend of Louis Letterier’s action epic Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros.), starring Sam Worthington and Gemma Arterton.
UPDATE: Early estimates had Date Night winning the weekend with roughly $27.1 million, but final figures show the comedy earned $25.2 million allowing “Clash” to win the weekend with $26.6 million. Other studios claimed that “Clash” might in fact be the weekend winner for a second week in a row and they were correct.
Internationally, Clash of the Titans again topped the box office with $54 million from 31 markets. It has earned $119.2 million overseas.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon performed more than admirably in its third weekend, adding another $25.3 million to its own take of $134 million, down just 13% from last weekend, allowing it the best hold in the Top 10. “Dragon” took second place in foreign markets with $23.7 million. The international take is at $148.1 million so far.
Tyler Perry’s sequel Why Did I Get Married Too? (Lionsgate) was on the opposite side of that scale, dropping over 62% with $11 million in its second weekend to take fourth place. Its $48.5 million gross so far is putting it in line to become the Atlanta media mogul’s second or third-highest grossing movie.
In its own second weekend, the Nicholas Spark drama The Last Song (Disney/Touchstone), starring Miley Cyrus, dropped 37% to fifth place with $10 million and $42.4 million total.
Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland also dropped a spot to sixth, adding $5.6 million to its total gross of $319 million, which should keep it as the top grossing movie of the year until Iron Man 2 opens next month. Internationally, “Alice” has earned $19 million for a total of $461.5 million overseas.
In ninth place, MGM’s R-rated comedy Hot Tub Time Machine brought in an additional $5.4 million for a three-week total of just under $37 million.
The spiritual drama Letters to God (Vivendi) opened on Friday in 897 theaters, which helped it squeak into the Top 10 with roughly $1.1 million.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
