March of the box-office zombies
HOLLYWOOD - The directorial debuts of two well-known stars didn't combine to do half the business of a new horror comedy this weekend.
Ricky Gervais' "The Invention of Lying" and Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" both had weak openings, collecting a studio-estimated $7.4 million and $4.9 million, respectively. The films, which co-starred and were aggressively publicized by their directors, were easily beaten by the weekend's other new wide release, "Zombieland," which sold $25 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada.
The weekend also saw Michael Moore's documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story" open nationwide relatively well, Disney do decent numbers for its 3-D version of the two "Toy Story" movies and Paramount continue to sell out midnight shows for its horror flick "Paranormal Activity."
The strong debut for "Zombieland" ended a recent trend that has seen several horror films including "Pandorum," ''Jennifer's Body" and "Sorority Row" open poorly.
"The movie is more of an action comedy first, and zombies are kind of like the icing on the cake," Sony distribution president Rory Bruer said of its appeal.
"Zombieland," which stars Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, cost Sony and co-financier Relativity Media only $23.6 million to produce, meaning it's already well on its way to profitability. Studios keep about half of ticket sales and also have to pay for marketing, but opening with a gross bigger than production cost is usually a good sign.
Ticket sales were virtually flat between Friday and Saturday, and audiences gave the movie an average grade of A-minus, according to market research company CinemaScore, meaning "Zombieland" probably will benefit from good buzz and play well for several weeks.
Disney re-released its two "Toy Story" films in digital 3-D to $12.5 million. Given that the studio's only cost was converting the movies to 3-D and that both are already on DVD, that's a relatively solid start. The movies are set to play in a two-week run.
Despite losing more than half of its 3-D screens to "Toy Story," Sony's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" held on well, dropping 33 percent and coming in a solid No. 2 at the box office with $16.7 million. The adaptation of the popular children's book, which cost about $100 million to produce, has collected $82.4 million domestically and will end up at well more than $100 million, making it by far the most successful of three films released by Sony Pictures Animation.
Overseas, where it has opened in 31 territories and has a number of major markets left to go, "Cloudy" has grossed $21.9 million.
"Whip It" was the weekend's biggest disappointment. Produced on a small budget of $15 million but marketed heavily, including a nationwide sneak preview last weekend, its sub-$5 million opening was particularly anemic. The only consolation for Fox Searchlight was that moviegoers, who were 70 percent female, largely liked it, giving it an average grade of A-minus to suggest it will receive positive word of mouth.
The same can't be said for "The Invention of Lying," which had a slightly better opening but received an average audience grade of C-plus. The comedy, which also starred Jennifer Garner and Rob Lowe, was produced by Radar Pictures, Media Rights Capital and Warner Bros. for a reported cost of $18.5 million.
After a strong debut at four theaters last weekend, Overture Films expanded "Capitalism: A Love Story" to nearly 1,000 locations and sold $4.9 million worth of tickets. Although nowhere close to Moore's biggest hit, "Fahrenheit 9/11," the debut of "Capitalism" was healthy for a documentary.
Moore's movies traditionally play well for several weeks. Overture and partner Paramount are surely hoping that "Capitalism" will do the same and ultimately gross more than $20 million domestically.
In limited release, Paramount's ultra-low budget horror film "Paranormal Activity" continues to sell out nearly all of its midnight shows. Its $16,000 average per theater was the second highest for any movie this weekend even though the movie had only three screenings at each location, late at night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The independently made "Paranormal," which Paramount is trying to publicize as a viral phenomenon, sold $535,000 worth of tickets, bringing its total over two weekends to $780,000.
On Friday, Paramount will expand the movie to 10 more theaters and start playing it at all times of the day in a test of whether its buzz is reaching beyond late-night crowds.
