Twentieth Century Fox’s The Day the Earth Stood Still destroyed its competition at the North American box office with US$31 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Scott Derrickson’s critically panned remake of the 1951 sci-fi thriller directed by Robert Wise opened at 3,560 locations this weekend, landing at the No. 1 spot early Friday. The film stars Keanu Reeves as an alien who comes to Earth to warn humankind of its potentially imminent destruction.
Last week’s box office champion, Four Christmases, dropped to second place, earning $13.2 million for a domestic total of $87.9 million after a strong three-week run. Starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn (above, with Sissy Spacek), the holiday comedy follows a couple paying a visit to their four divorced parents.
At No. 3, Catherine Hardwicke’s vampire romance Twilight picked up another $8 million, lifting its cumulative gross to an impressive $150.1 million. The film, based on the Stephenie Meyer novel of the same title, is the tale of a teenage girl (Kristen Stewart) who falls in love with a friendly vampire (Robert Pattinson).
Meanwhile, Disney’s animated hit flick Bolt took home $7.5 million in fourth place. Its current total haul stands at $88.8 million after only four weeks in release. Following at No. 5 was Baz Luhrmann’s adventure drama Australia (above), starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, which pulled $4.2 million to reach a domestic total of $37.8 million.
Slipping to No. 6, Marc Forster’s Quantum of Solace brought its cumulative gross to $157.6 million after this weekend’s earnings of $3.8 million. New entry Nothing Like the Holidays (above), with Debra Messing, John Leguizamo, and Alfred Molina, debuted at only 1,671 locations. It opened in seventh place, with a disappointing $3.5 million.
At the bottom of the top 10 this weekend, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa collected $3.2 million for a total of $170 million, while Gus Van Sant’s acclaimed drama Milk (above), starring Sean Penn and Josh Brolin, took in $2.6 million at No. 9.
Rounding out the top 10 was Olivier Megaton’s sequel Transporter 3, which finished with $2.2 million ($29.2 million total gross).
Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)
$31 million in the US/Canada, and another $39 or so overseas and some are calling The Day the Earth Stood Still a flop?