Image Credit: DisneyJust when we thought no other records would be broken following the culmination of Avatar’s lengthy reign, we face another round of box office firsts. And this time the records belong to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The 3-D spectacle starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter earned an estimated $116.3 million, the highest grossing weekend ever for a spring release. Not only that, but 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. (IMAX’s 9 additional theaters plus Alice’s shorter run time gave the company the added boost over its Avatar numbers.) If there was even a question as to whether or not 3-D was here to stay, it’s now officially been answered. Avatar was not an anomaly. In fact, what it did was expand the marketplace to all those moviegoers that were nonbelievers in the 3-D technology. They tested it out with Avatar, were convinced of the stunning visuals, and they are now back for more. In fact, IMAX alone sold out every seat they had for the entire weekend. And Disney counts 65% of its weekend gross on Alice from 3-D screenings. Kinda amazing, really.
The rest of the box office followed pretty much as expected. Overture’s R-rated cop drama Brooklyn’s Finest grossed an estimated $13.5 million for a second place finish. Shutter Island came right in under that with a third weekend take of an estimated $13.3 million. (These two films could swap places once the actual numbers are reported tomorrow.) Warner Bros. buddy comedy Cop Out fell 50% to earn another $9.1 million for a two-week gross of $32.4 million. Avatar, which held onto 695 of its 3-D screens, dropped 44%, its largest fall since it opened three months ago. Still the box office juggernaut earned another $7.7 million to put its 12-week domestic take at $720 million.
Overture Films’ second movie to fill out the top ten was The Crazies, which earned the 6th spot with an additional $7 million. the 56% drop put the horror film’s two-week take at $27.4 million. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief took spot seven with $5.1 million and a total box office of $78 million. Valentine’s Day hung on to the top ten for a fourth weekend, earning $4.2 million and pushing its total cume past the $100 million mark.
Fox Searchlight is benefiting from this weekend’s Oscars. Its nominated film Crazy Heart grossed an additional $3.3 million for the ninth spot and has now earned $29.5 million. Already in 1274 theaters, Crazy Heart has been riding the Academy Award nomination wave for some time. We’ll have to watch to see if Jeff Bridges’ practically guaranteed win tonight will enhance the box office fate of this critical darling. And finally, Sony Pictures’ Dear John rounded out the top ten this frame earning another $2.8 million. It’s total gross now stands at close to $77 million.
Next weekend, Matt Damon in Green Zone and Robert Pattinson in Remember Me will try and challenge Alice in Wonderland’s newly crowned box office queen status. It’s unlikely either will succeed. Tune in next week for more box office fun.
Alice in Wonderland was fantastic. Hopefully it has legs like Avatar.
It was horrid 3d though.
I agree it was lackluster in 3D. I hope Johny is clean, I would hate to see him end up Heath Ledger. I would recommend getting really wasted and stumbling into the movie. It was very entertaining.
You hope Johnny is clean and then recommend getting wasted to watch this movie? I think I just got whiplash!
the movie was great but I just can’t get into 3D…I wear contacts and don’t have the best vision and 3D just doesn’t work for me. It just makes my eyes go all wonky and I ended up having to keep one eye closed for most of the movie so that I wouldn’t go cross eyed.
So true. The 3D detracted from the movie. I was also given 3D sunglasses, so the entire movie was really really dark. So annoying.
Remember Me is opening in less than half the cinemas as Alice. I don’t see how it can put up much of a challenge although it appears to be a wonderful movie.
With all the twilight fans out there I think the movie will do pretty well.
Remember Me will do well, but I don’t see it beating Alice. Even if Alice drops 70% (which is a HUGE drop), it will still make $35 million next weekend. With limited theaters I don’t see Remember Me doing that kind of money; it might beat Green Zone, but even that isn’t a certainty.
That is until word of mouth sinks the film. The screenplay was written by an associate of my boss so I happen to know how it ends. No point in spoiling it, but be sure to look into the ending after it debuts.
and to clarify, I’m referring to “Remember Me” NOT Alice
Remember Me will probably not do well. Seeing that Green Zone is the most we’ll get to “Borne Identity 4″, i think most people will flock to that, especially the men.
and i can’t remember, is Remember Me rated R? if so, that means the 12 year olds can’t see it, so there goes the Twilight fanbase.
Remember Me should probably expect third place if that.
I saw it. it was good not great. beter than avatar? come on no way
EVERYTHING is better than Avatar
Hurt Locker isn’t better than Avatar, so you’re wrong.
Not true. People hate on Avatar because it gets a lot of hype and money, but it really is an amazing film experience. Who cares if the basic storyline is not that original, but the Film definitely is. I sure as hell haven’t seen a movie based on 9 foot blue people with tails before. Avatar could’ve easily been the dumbest, cheesiest thing ever, but James Cameron and the filmmakers made those creatures seem real and gave them souls.
It wasn’t the BEST film of 2009, but it was definitely one of them.
definitely! amazing film experience doesn’t equal amazing movie. Storyline counts!
No this isn’t better than Avatar and to say everythings better than it proves your just another hater.
definitely not true. avatar is one of my favorite movies of all time, and has had a true impact on the world. try and belittle it if you want, but it is a beautiful and inspiring movie-whether the storyline is familiar or not.
“If there was even a question as to whether or not 3-D was here to stay, it’s now officially been answered.”
Why does no one at EW know how to use the subjunctive?
Because the subjunctive has been fading from English for quite some time…
It’s no longer widely considered grammatically incorrect to not use it.
@ Matty… you are a tool. What do you do for a living? Get a life!
I agree with Matty. The conditional should be used, and not using it is just lazy.
Honestly, it just is not taught that well in schools, so people don’t know how to use the subjunctive case properly. So it’s rather mean to accuse someone of laziness for something that is relatively subtle and (as Abigail said) a dying part of American English.
I’m gonna be honest, never underestimate the Twilight fans with Remember Me. Especially since Summit made it PG13. (Boooo!!) Alice was good, but not great. I see potential on the Robert Pattinson front.
People putting such steep expectations on Remember Me are going to be disappointed. It’s just not built to be a blockbuster.
nobody is saying it was built to be a blockbuster, they are saying that twilight fans and robert pattinson fans are crazy and will do anything.
I want to see Alice in Wonderland now. It looked amazing in the trailer.
No. Alice shows Avatar was a fluke. Everyone wanted another great use of 3d like they saw with Avatar. That is why it made so much money. Next week it will drop around 75% because sadly, the 3d in this movie sucks. Best part was when it ended.
Yes, the 3D plant growth during the credits was the best part.
i didn’t like alice at all. too much johhny. and the story didn’t flow very well at some parts, if that makes sense.
It doesn’t.
This movie looks horrible…I can’t believe it made so much money. Garbage.
A perfect end to a killer week for the good guys in entertainment. Who cares about the whiners? Tim Burton has never been about slick perfection. He makes movies unlike anybody else’s. And this adds to his ability to make more. Yay, Tim and Johnny!!
I agree. Tim is a geinus and so is Johnny Depp, especially when they’re together.
I’m really happy Alice in Wonderland made so much money. I can’t wait to see it.
I agree! I’ve been a Burton fan since 7 (when Nightmare Before Christmas came out). For some reason I had my doubts about Alice, but I LOVED it. And I will most definitely be seeing it again.
“Avatar was not an anomaly”??? Really?? What this proves is that AVATAR whetted audiences appetites for 3D entertainment. Do you honestly think that AVATAR grossed 720 million just because people wanted to see pretty things? Sya what you want about the story’s simplicity and lack of originality, it was still a story that people connected with, across all demos, and add to that breathtaking visuals, and you get the phenomenon that was AVATAR. AIW is not gonna do 700 million, not even close. So AVATAR will continue being an anomaly, until AVATAR 2 comes along…
Yay smart person!
I’m sorry. But what on Earth does Alice have to do with Avatar? Did Tim Burton announce he was going to kick Avatar’s ass? I don’t think so. There’s a reason sci-fi fans have the image they do.
Amen!
It seems to me that the only reason people went to see Avatar was to see it in 3-D.People are such suckers to see a “new” kind of movie that they were willing to shell out extra money just to see the latest gimmick in the movie industry,and now thanks to Avatar every major movie will probably use 3-D to suck everyone’s wallets dry.
Get back to your teabagger rally, you paranoid weirdo.
I know I saw Avatar only because it was THE thing to do… it got so much hype and play that eventually I consented and figured I’d see it so that I could have an opinion. My opinion: should’ve trusted my gut and saved my money… Avatar sucked and did NOTHING for me.
THIS
But the story has to keep you interested…I fell asleep during Avatar.
Harry Potter in Wonderland – sucked, waste of time and money.
We clearly didn’t see the same movie. The only thing that movie had in common with Harry Potter is that many of the cast members are also in the HP films. Alice in Wonderland wasn’t the BEST Tim Burton film, but it didn’t suck. I wish he had gotten more creative with the storyline.
Fun movie. Amazing effects, costumes, and art direction. It should win those 3 Oscar categories next year. Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp were a ton of fun, but Alice herself was dull.
This was MUCH better than I expected given a few of the early reviews I read. Depp was phenomenal. In fact several other people who were in my audience also commented they didn’t think he’d bring as much as he did to the role. I also thought the dialog was pretty good. Otherwise I’m aligned Roger Ebert’s review. I think there was some compromise with Disney with regard to the ending.
It’s also possible that if you found Dobson’s criticism of the mathematical theories of the day, inherent in the original “Alice” story, too essential to leave out of any “Alice” story, this won’t work for you.
I saw Alice in Wonderland this weekend, but deliberately avoided the 3D presentation. I saw Avatar in 3D, because I heard how great it was. While the visuals were beautiful, I felt that the 3D did not enhance the movie at all so I was quite content to see Alice in 2D and not feel like I missed out on something in 3D.
But did you like Alice in Wonderland in 2D?
I certainly did, and this is coming from someone who also saw Avatar in IMAX-3D.
I saw it in 2D (I don’t care much for 3D), and loved it.
I saw it in 2d and thought it was good, not the greatest film, but everyone has an opinion on what the greatest film is, but I liked the movie. I don’t think that I missed anything by seeing it in the 2d version that would make me go back to see it in 3d.