By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
It wasn't Batman, but the latest superhero flick had enough to save the box office this weekend.
Watchmen took the top spot at theaters with $55.7 million, according to estimates from box office trackers Nielsen EDI.
While the debut made it an easy winner at the box office, the adaptation of the dense graphic novel fell below some expectations by almost $10 million.
Still, given the movie's excessive violence and two-hour, 45-minute running time, the movie scored the sixth-highest debut on record for an R-rated film. And Watchmen scored solid reviews from fans and critics, earning recommendations from two-thirds of the nation's reviewers, according to survey site RottenTomatoes.com.
The Matrix Reloaded had the all-time debut for an R-rated movie, opening to $91.8 million. Watchmen director Zack Snyder's previous film, the R-rated 300, debuted to $70.9 million.
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail dropped from the top spot after two weekends at No. 1, taking $8.8 million. The comedy has done $76.5 million in three weeks.
The Liam Neeson action thriller Taken continues to chug along, taking third place with $7.5 million and lifting its total to $118 million.
Slumdog Millionaire, the best-picture Oscar winner, was fourth with $6.9 million, bringing its total to $125.4 million.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop rounded out the top five with $4.2 million. It ha done $133.6 million since its release two months ago.
Ticket sales continue their blistering pace in the recession: Grosses surged 23% over last weekend and 14% over the same weekend last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment