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.
As we get ready for the Super Bowl face-off between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, the box office saw a showdown of another sort as two movies fought for moviegoing audiences, and each ultimately did enough business to make this one of the strongest Super Bowl weekends in recent memory with both new movies pulling in over $20 million in business.
Ultimately, it was 20th Century Fox’s found footage superhero movie, Chronicle, directed by Joshua Trank, that came out on top with an estimated $22 million in 2,907 theaters, nearly $7,500 per site, surpassing even the highest projections for how the movie might fare this weekend.
Daniel Radcliffe made his first post-“Harry Potter” movie with the period thriller The Woman in Black (CBS Films), which took a solid second place with an estimated $21 million this weekend.
After topping the box office last week, Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller The Grey (Open Road), starring Liam Neeson, dropped 52% to third place with $9.5 million and $35 million in ten days.
The family-friendly whale drama Big Miracle (Universal), starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski, opened in fourth place with $8.5 million in 2,129 theaters, averaging less than $4,000 per venue.
It was followed in fifth place by the 3D action franchise reboot Underworld Awakening (Sony/Screen Gems) with $5.6 million and $54.3 million total. It added another $11.9 million internationally this weekend to bring its global total to $108.3 million.
The Katherine Heigl comedy One for the Money (Lionsgate) dropped to sixth place with $5.2 million, down 54% from its opening weekend, with roughly $20 million grossed so far.
Lucasfilm’s Red Tails (20th Century Fox), starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr., took seventh place with $5 million and $41.3 million total.
Alexander Payne’s The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) remained in eighth place with $4.6 million and $65.5 million total, while Sam Worthington’s crime-thriller Man on a Ledge (Summit) dropped to ninth place with $4.5 million and $14.7 million total.
Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.) rounded out the Top 10 with $3.9 million and $27 million grossed to date.
Opening in four theaters in New York and L.A., Madonna’s period drama W.E. (The Weinstein Company), starring Abbie Cornish and Andrea Riseborough, brought in $45 thousand in its debut weekend.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
