Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic actioner 2012 destroyed its competition at the North American box office this weekend with a solid $65 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Sony’s 2012 opened at 3,404 locations Friday, scoring an explosive average of $19,095 per theater while easily beating the $35.8 million opening gross of Emmerich’s previous film 10,000 B.C.
Starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, and Danny Glover, 2012 follows a group of individuals trying to survive a series of cataclysms as the world is about to come to an end.
Pirate Radio, this week’s other wide release, made it only to No. 11, with $2.8 million from ticket sales at 882 locations. Directed by Richard Curtis and featuring the likes of Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Chris O'Dowd, the comedy follows a group of DJs broadcasting rock ‘n’ roll from a boat in the North Atlantic.
At No. 2, Disney’s A Christmas Carol scored a solid $22.3 million, lifting its domestic total to $63.2 million. The Robert Zemeckis-directed 3D motion-capture adventure starring Jim Carrey is currently playing at 3,683 locations.
Following at a distant No. 3 was The Men Who Stare at Goats, which took home $6.2 million. Starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor, the comedy directed by Grant Heslov brought its total haul to $23.3 million.
Delivering a huge surprise this weekend at No. 4 was Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, starring Gabourey Sidibe, which bagged an impressive $6 million from ticket sales at only 174 locations.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson’s This Is It collected $5.1 million at No. 5, reaching a cumulative gross of $68.2 million. Following in sixth place with $4.7 million was the thriller The Fourth Kind, starring Milla Jovovich, which brought its total haul to $20.5 million.
Staying put in seventh place was Couples Retreat, which reached a total gross of $102.1 million after earnings of $4.2 million. Still doing well at No. 8 was Paranormal Activity, earning $4.2 for a cume of $103.8 million.
At the bottom of the top 10, Law Abiding Citizen generated $3.9 million for a $76.3 million total, while Richard Kelly’s The Box, with Cameron Diaz and James Marsden (above), took a big dive, ending up with $3.1 million ($13.2 million total gross) at No. 10.
Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)