Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office -- 3-Day vs. 4-Day Analysis

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge -- chart reflects usual Friday-Sunday box office only.
• DreamWorks Animation's Shrek Forever After held onto the #1 spot -- both in the normal 3-day and 4-day holiday weekend tallies. Its 4-day take was $55.7 million -- raising its 10-day domestic total to $145.5 million.
• Sex and the City 2 took second place in the 3-day weekend -- but fell to third over the 4-day period ($37.1 million).
• Another $14.2 million from its first day in release on Thursday gave Sex and the City 2 a five-day opening of $51.4 million, under-performing forecasts of a $60 million-plus debut. The original Sex and the City movie fetched $62.6 million in a four-day bow during 2008's Memorial Day frame. Critical reviews played a big part -- most were poor.
• Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced adventure fantasy Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time jumped from third place in the 3-day frame to second place in the four days with a $37.8 million opening, in line with soft pre-release projections for the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer.
• Ticket sales for Friday to Monday came in at about $187 million, down nearly 16 percent compared to Memorial Day weekend in 2009, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
• Reviews of Sex and the City 2 and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Final holiday weekend figures are released on Tuesday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office -- 3-Day vs. 4-Day Analysis

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge -- chart reflects usual Friday-Sunday box office only.
• DreamWorks Animation's Shrek Forever After held onto the #1 spot -- both in the normal 3-day and 4-day holiday weekend tallies. Its 4-day take was $55.7 million -- raising its 10-day domestic total to $145.5 million.
• Sex and the City 2 took second place in the 3-day weekend -- but fell to third over the 4-day period ($37.1 million).
• Another $14.2 million from its first day in release on Thursday gave Sex and the City 2 a five-day opening of $51.4 million, under-performing forecasts of a $60 million-plus debut. The original Sex and the City movie fetched $62.6 million in a four-day bow during 2008's Memorial Day frame. Critical reviews played a big part -- most were poor.
• Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced adventure fantasy Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time jumped from third place in the 3-day frame to second place in the four days with a $37.8 million opening, in line with soft pre-release projections for the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer.
• Ticket sales for Friday to Monday came in at about $187 million, down nearly 16 percent compared to Memorial Day weekend in 2009, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
• Reviews of Sex and the City 2 and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Final holiday weekend figures are released on Tuesday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• DreamWorks Animation's Shrek Forever After opened lower than some had feared, with the family comedy topping domestic rankings with just $71.3 million in estimated weekend box office. The latest Paramount-distributed pic about a lovable ogre and his family debuted with significantly less green stuff than the two previous Shrek sequels, which each fetched $100 million-plus in their first three days.
• Elsewhere this weekend, Universal unspooled Rogue's action comedy MacGruber with a paltry $4.1 million in sixth place -- yet another flop for a film based on a Saturday Night Live sketch.
  
• Reviews of other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• DreamWorks Animation's Shrek Forever After opened lower than some had feared, with the family comedy topping domestic rankings with just $71.3 million in estimated weekend box office. The latest Paramount-distributed pic about a lovable ogre and his family debuted with significantly less green stuff than the two previous Shrek sequels, which each fetched $100 million-plus in their first three days.
• Elsewhere this weekend, Universal unspooled Rogue's action comedy MacGruber with a paltry $4.1 million in sixth place -- yet another flop for a film based on a Saturday Night Live sketch.
  
• Reviews of other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• For the second weekend in a row, Iron Man 2 from Paramount and Marvel topped the domestic box office with $53 million. The Robert Downey Jr. starrer dropped a reasonable 59% from its week-earlier opening tally, while boosting cumulative box office to $212.2 million. That compares to a $177.8 million second-weekend cume for 2008's Iron Man. So movie-goers aren't tiring of sequels just yet.
  
• Universal's Russell Crowe starrer Robin Hood -- with Cate Blanchett as Maid Marion in Ridley Scott's history-based telling of the well-known legend -- struck the lower edge of pre-release projections with an estimated $37.1 million in opening box office -- good for second place. Are movie-goers tiring of remakes?
  
• Reviews of other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• For the second weekend in a row, Iron Man 2 from Paramount and Marvel topped the domestic box office with $53 million. The Robert Downey Jr. starrer dropped a reasonable 59% from its week-earlier opening tally, while boosting cumulative box office to $212.2 million. That compares to a $177.8 million second-weekend cume for 2008's Iron Man. So movie-goers aren't tiring of sequels just yet.
  
• Universal's Russell Crowe starrer Robin Hood -- with Cate Blanchett as Maid Marion in Ridley Scott's history-based telling of the well-known legend -- struck the lower edge of pre-release projections with an estimated $37.1 million in opening box office -- good for second place. Are movie-goers tiring of remakes?
  
• Reviews of other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• After two consecutive weekends of "too-close-to-call" results, we have a clear box office champ. In its fifth week, How to Train Your Dragon has reclaimed the #1 spot. The animated film continued to breathe fire at the cinemas, beating all newcomers -- including The Back-up Plan and Losers -- with a $15 million take.
  
• It was a slow weekend at the box office -- which was down close to 20% compared to last year at this time, when the Beyonce Knowles-starrer Obsessed bowed to $28 million.
• Reviews of Oceans and older movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• After two consecutive weekends of "too-close-to-call" results, we have a clear box office champ. In its fifth week, How to Train Your Dragon has reclaimed the #1 spot. The animated film continued to breathe fire at the cinemas, beating all newcomers -- including The Back-up Plan and Losers -- with a $15 million take.
  
• It was a slow weekend at the box office -- which was down close to 20% compared to last year at this time, when the Beyonce Knowles-starrer Obsessed bowed to $28 million.
• Reviews of Oceans and older movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• For the second weekend in a row, the race for the #1 slot was a close one. DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon is claiming the top spot with an estimated $20 million, while Kick-Ass distributor Lionsgate reported its movie debuted at $19.75 million. With just $250,000 separating them, either movie could end up at #1 when studios release final weekend numbers tomorrow. 4/19 update: The top movies at the weekend box office have flip-flopped again, with the superhero comedy "Kick-Ass" edging out the animated adventure "How to Train Your Dragon." Final studio numbers Monday have Lionsgate's "Kick-Ass" at #1 with $19.8 million. DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon," distributed by Paramount, ran a close #2 with $19.6 million.
• Meanwhile, thanks to big openings in Latin America and Italy, Clash of the Titans maintained its #1 box office position on the foreign theatrical circuit for a third straight weekend, grossing $53.6 million from some 10,400 screens in 57 markets.
• Reviews of older movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• For the second weekend in a row, the race for the #1 slot was a close one. DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon is claiming the top spot with an estimated $20 million, while Kick-Ass distributor Lionsgate reported its movie debuted at $19.75 million. With just $250,000 separating them, either movie could end up at #1 when studios release final weekend numbers tomorrow. 4/19 update: The top movies at the weekend box office have flip-flopped again, with the superhero comedy "Kick-Ass" edging out the animated adventure "How to Train Your Dragon." Final studio numbers Monday have Lionsgate's "Kick-Ass" at #1 with $19.8 million. DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon," distributed by Paramount, ran a close #2 with $19.6 million.
• Meanwhile, thanks to big openings in Latin America and Italy, Clash of the Titans maintained its #1 box office position on the foreign theatrical circuit for a third straight weekend, grossing $53.6 million from some 10,400 screens in 57 markets.
• Reviews of older movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, The Hollywood Reporter, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• The race for the #1 slot this weekend was a close one, but Date Night is claiming victory with an estimated $27.1 million gross over Clash of the Titans' $26.9 million take -- although that could all change by tomorrow morning when the true numbers are reported (all figures are industry estimates; actual figures are released on Monday). 4/12 Box Office Update: In final weekend tally, "Clash of the Titans" ($26.6M) beats "Date Night" ($25.2M) - reversing order from early estimates
• No matter what the final tally is, Date Night marks a new personal box office opening weekend record for Tina Fey.
  
• Reviews of older movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• The race for the #1 slot this weekend was a close one, but Date Night is claiming victory with an estimated $27.1 million gross over Clash of the Titans' $26.9 million take -- although that could all change by tomorrow morning when the true numbers are reported (all figures are industry estimates; actual figures are released on Monday). 4/12 Box Office Update: In final weekend tally, "Clash of the Titans" ($26.6M) beats "Date Night" ($25.2M) - reversing order from early estimates
• No matter what the final tally is, Date Night marks a new personal box office opening weekend record for Tina Fey.
  
• Reviews of older movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• How to Train Your Dragon breathed a bit of box-office fire with a $43.3 million opening weekend and a #1 debut. Distributed by Paramount, the DreamWorks Animation adventure came in well behind the studio's last cartoon comedy, Monsters vs. Aliens, which opened with $59.3 million over the same weekend last year.
• How to Train Your Dragon pulled in 68% of its revenue from 3-D presentation, another triumph for the growing digital technology. Yet it also highlights the limits on how much 3-D traffic theaters are equipped to handle. Dragon took over the bulk of 3-D theaters at the expense of Disney's Alice in Wonderland, because the roughly 4,000 screens capable of showing digital 3-D movies is not enough to handle two full wide-release films at the same time.
  
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Reviews of Green Zone and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• How to Train Your Dragon breathed a bit of box-office fire with a $43.3 million opening weekend and a #1 debut. Distributed by Paramount, the DreamWorks Animation adventure came in well behind the studio's last cartoon comedy, Monsters vs. Aliens, which opened with $59.3 million over the same weekend last year.
• How to Train Your Dragon pulled in 68% of its revenue from 3-D presentation, another triumph for the growing digital technology. Yet it also highlights the limits on how much 3-D traffic theaters are equipped to handle. Dragon took over the bulk of 3-D theaters at the expense of Disney's Alice in Wonderland, because the roughly 4,000 screens capable of showing digital 3-D movies is not enough to handle two full wide-release films at the same time.
  
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Reviews of Green Zone and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• With $34.5 million, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland easily remained at #1 for the third straight weekend. Its 17-day domestic tally stands at $265.8 million. Launched simultaneously in many foreign markets, the 3D film has fetched $565.8 million worldwide to date.
  
• The big surprise this weekend came from Fox's family comedy Diary of Wimpy Kid. Its $21.8 million performance outpaced pre-release projections to nail down the weekend's #2 spot.
• On an industry-wide basis, the $122 million weekend represented a 21% improvement over the same frame last year.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Reviews of Green Zone, Avatar and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, Hollywood Reporter
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• With $34.5 million, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland easily remained at #1 for the third straight weekend. Its 17-day domestic tally stands at $265.8 million. Launched simultaneously in many foreign markets, the 3D film has fetched $565.8 million worldwide to date.
  
• The big surprise this weekend came from Fox's family comedy Diary of Wimpy Kid. Its $21.8 million performance outpaced pre-release projections to nail down the weekend's #2 spot.
• On an industry-wide basis, the $122 million weekend represented a 21% improvement over the same frame last year.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Reviews of Green Zone, Avatar and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, Hollywood Reporter
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland easily remained at #1 this weekend with $62 million. The Disney fantasy has climbed to a $208.6 million total domestically, becoming the first $200 million hit released this year. And it took in nearly as much as the rest of the top 10 movies combined.
• In only its second weekend in theaters, Alice in Wonderland pulled ahead of the $206.5 million domestic haul of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to become the top-grossing of Johnny Depp and Burton's seven films together, which include Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd and Corpse Bride.
• After nearly three months in theaters, Avatar remained strong -- earning another $6.6 million to raise its domestic total to $730.3 million. The 20th Century Fox release has topped $2.6 billion worldwide.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Reviews of Green Zone, Brooklyn's Finest, Avatar and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland easily remained at #1 this weekend with $62 million. The Disney fantasy has climbed to a $208.6 million total domestically, becoming the first $200 million hit released this year. And it took in nearly as much as the rest of the top 10 movies combined.
• In only its second weekend in theaters, Alice in Wonderland pulled ahead of the $206.5 million domestic haul of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to become the top-grossing of Johnny Depp and Burton's seven films together, which include Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd and Corpse Bride.
• After nearly three months in theaters, Avatar remained strong -- earning another $6.6 million to raise its domestic total to $730.3 million. The 20th Century Fox release has topped $2.6 billion worldwide.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released on Monday.
• Reviews of Green Zone, Brooklyn's Finest, Avatar and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the 3D spectacle starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, earned an estimated $116.3 million -- the highest grossing weekend ever for a spring release (ok --technically not spring yet, but a March up til Memorial Day weekend time frame).
• IMAX– which pulled Avatar from all its screens in exchange for Alice – was rewarded handsomely with its highest weekend gross ever, $11.9 million in only 188 theaters.
• Avatar earned another $7.7 million to put its 12-week domestic take at $720 million.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released later today.
• Reviews of Brooklyn's Finest, Avatar, Crazy Heart and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive image at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the 3D spectacle starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, earned an estimated $116.3 million -- the highest grossing weekend ever for a spring release (ok --technically not spring yet, but a March up til Memorial Day weekend time frame).
• IMAX– which pulled Avatar from all its screens in exchange for Alice – was rewarded handsomely with its highest weekend gross ever, $11.9 million in only 188 theaters.
• Avatar earned another $7.7 million to put its 12-week domestic take at $720 million.
• All figures are industry estimates. Actual figures are released later today.
• Reviews of Brooklyn's Finest, Avatar, Crazy Heart and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive image at left.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com