01.13-16.2012: Weekend Box Office – The $

Posted by on Jan 17, 2012 in Box Office, Film

The premieres of three movies, two new and one old, celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend by seizing top spots in the four-day weekend box office but not without trouble from a pair of five-weekend aces.  Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale smuggled counterfeit bills and director Baltasar Kormákur’s $25 million Contraband to #1 with $28.515 million while Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton dreamed a whole lot louder with $13.802 million in #4 Joyful Noise from director/writer/actor Todd Graff.  Just like 2011’s successful re-release of Disney’s The Lion King in 3D (the 1994 film was #1 for two weekends in a row, grossing $94.234 million in 16 weekends), the 20-year-old Beauty and the Beast, also in 3D, roared to #2 with $22.213 million.

Aces Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows filled in the rest of the top five at #3 and #5, respectively.  The action-packed sequels have been running parallel over the course of five weekends at the box office, staying at the top with rankings of no less than #5.  This weekend, M:I4 grossed $14.201 million, a 28.5% decrease, at 3,346 theaters ($509.448 million worldwide) and SH2 grossed $10.444 million, a 23.7% decrease, at 3,155 theaters ($394.043 million worldwide).

The Devil Inside was exorcised from its debut spot at #1, falling five to #6.  Even with a 73.2% decrease at $9.034 million, writer/director William Brent Bell’s horror flick increased its theater count to 2,551 with 266 theaters.  The movie is now $46.381 million in the black over its $1 million production budget.

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