Image Credit: Dreamworks AnimationA runaway train couldn’t derail Megamind, as the animated comedy grossed $30.1 million and topped the box office for the second weekend, according to studio estimates. DreamWorks Animation’s $130 million superhero film slipped only 35 percent from last weekend for a cumulative total of $89.8 million. Megamind‘s drop is almost identical to the second-week performance of DreamWorks’ March release How to Train Your Dragon, which fell 34 percent for $29 million en route to a final tally of $217.6 million. However, Dragon didn’t have to compete with a certain teenage wizard. With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 next weekend, Megamind better possess some counterspell for its inevitable box-office slide.
Fox’s $85 million runaway-train thriller Unstoppable debuted in second place with a sturdy $23.5 million. The collaboration between actor Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott — their fifth — yielded yet another incredibly consistent result. Factor in Unstoppable, and the team’s opening weekend grosses read as follows: $18.6 million, $22.8 million, $20.6 million, $23.4 million, and now $23.5 million. Buoyed by strong reviews and a solid “A-” CinemaScore from audiences, Unstoppable should hold up decently during the coming weeks as it travels toward a domestic total of about $70 million. Third place went to Due Date, which dropped 53 percent for $15.5 million. The road-trip comedy, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, stands at $59 million after two weeks. By comparison, last year’s The Hangover had earned $104.8 million at this juncture. Still, Due Date is by no means a flop; with a budget of $65 million, the R-rated movie should easily break even.
In fourth and fifth place were the weekend’s other two new releases, the alien-invasion thriller Skyline ($11.7 million) and the journalistic comedy Morning Glory ($9.6 million). Skyline, released by Universal and co-produced by Rogue Pictures and Relativity Media, was the only movie in the top 10 to decline from Friday to Saturday, and CinemaScore moviegoers slammed the film with a “D-” grade. However, considering the sci-fi spectacle cost a paltry $10 million to produce (directors Greg and Colin Strause shot most of the project in a high-rise condo owned by the former), Skyline‘s performance can be considered a mild success. Paramount’s Morning Glory, on the other hand, could use a shot of caffeine. The $38 million comedy, starring Rachel McAdams as a workaholic television producer, attracted mostly older women — 72 percent of the audience was female, and 89 percent was more than 25 years old.
In limited release, director Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, starring James Franco, expanded to 22 theaters and chipped away $453,000, for a strong per-site average of $20,591. And the indie comedy Tiny Furniture launched at one Manhattan theater, grossing $22,450. Check back next weekend as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 destroys everything in its path, including the Russell Crowe thriller The Next Three Days.
1. Megamind — $30.1 mil
2. Unstoppable — $23.5 mil
3. Due Date — $15.5 mil
4. Skyline — $11.7 mil
5. Morning Glory — $9.6 mil
Morning Glory is a big bomb, people don’t care about Harrison anymore, and apparently America still prefers Katherine Heigl as America’s sweetheart over Rachel McAdams
Tell me America doesn’t prefer the mouthy Cankles over the beautiful and endearing Rachel McAdams!
You..leave…Rachel’s…cancles ALOOOOONE!!! I have plenty of energy to come over there, RIGHT NOW!!!
Whoops, misspelled cankles?! Or is it Canchels?
I think Mike was refering to Katherine Heigl, not Rachel McAdams.
And that is truly sad considering Katherine plays the same character in every movie, unlike Rachel who actually has talent and does different things.
get off her dick
Best comment ever.
I don’t think it was Rachel’s fault Morning Glory didn’t do well. Tell me that movie didn’t look boring and unfunny to you. Because it sure did to me.
morning glory is at best a b film, but rachel mcadams was surprisingly good, she carries a film with so-so writing…too bad the didn’t get patrick wilson outta his jeans
What is “America’s sweetheart” anyway? A woman who will be in any lame rom com to make a buck? Rachel McAdams is mediocre, and Diane Keaton is grating, and the combination of those two is enough to keep me from seeing the ever good Harrison Ford.
Someone’s vicious and viperous about the fact that no one considers her as cute as someone who gets labeled as “America’s sweetheart.”
“America’s sweethearts” are highly overrated. Although that is no dig at Rachel. I do like her. Most of your AS play the same thing in every movie, the pretty girl who can’t find a man, but low and behold the hot dude that also happens to coincidentally be single comes along and they shockingly fall madly in love with each other. OMG!!
DO NOT speak ill of Diane Keaton. You need a double feature of Annie Hall and Manhattan.
America’s Sweetheart is a girl who is good looking but not good looking enough that women find them threatening.
Meh. I saw Devil Wear’s Prada enough times (and on enough airplane rides) to not need to see Morning Glory. But thanks to the marketing dept who made it easy to skip it by touting the Prada factor. “It’s the same movie, people!” Brilliant.
Harrison Ford is just seeing the the karma effects from making that horrible Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Lazy Filmmaking! It’ll take alot to redeem yourselves Ford, Speilberg and Lucas after pissing off every fan and making the Star Wars prequels look like Citizen Kane in comparison!
LOL!! Couldn’t agree with you more, Matt, about the wretched Indy 4 movie. Yech. Blech. Yuk. But I love Harrison, and Rachel and Diane, and will likely DVD this film!
Honestly? What is you ppls problem? Indy 4 was a good movie in my opinion. Prolly my least fav of the series but still on par with the original trilogy. What was your problem with the fourth indy? If you thnk the aliens were too weird or didnt work with it, the original had ghosts in it, so youve rlly got no argument.
Yeah, I am always amazed too.. I mean people bought the fact that Indy outran a boulder, or survived jumping from a plane using an inflatable raft. But when he got inside a fridge in order to avoid the nuclear bomb, then that was too much for these people. Bunch of whiny, know it all fanboys…
Will and Troy, you are both exactly right.
WHat?? What??? How DAARE YOOUUU! Sorry, can’t stop talkin’ like Mel today.
It’s sad that Rachel McAdams doesn’t have more star power than Kat Heigl.
so maybe she belongs on TV or on a stage
Rachel McAdams is a good actoress whose probably got a good career ahead of her. Katherine Heigl is a mediocre actress who stars in annoying rom coms that no one remembers they saw 2 hours after viewing and she will probably go away soon, as she seems to have as many haters as people who like her, if not more haters. So hey, Rachel’s got that over her.
You spend 65 million dollars to break even.
its at $59 million after 2 weeks in release, it will do more than break even, I don’t know why they are underplaying it so much. And enough with the Hangover comparisons! Just because it is the same director/star they treat it like a sequel or something.
Ikr. Not to mention the Hangover was released during the summer, when movies generally make more money anyway, in a different market without much competition, great reviews, and good word of mouth. I do not understand the comparisons at all. It’s completely unfair. Not to mention they are two completely different films.
Except films actually need to gross about double their budget in order to break even. The theatres generally take about 50% of the gross. And the marketing cost isn’t added in to the production budget. So, the movie would have to make about $130 million to break even.
Next week is going to be very interesting in the box office… CANT WAIT… I will be VERY suprised if Harry Potter does not dominate over EVERY SINGLE movie.
Totally agree. Harry Potter domination should begin. I am so excited. Am going to the midnight showing!!!!!!
me too! I am dressing up and seeing it at midnight. I’m a total nerd but I don’t care!
Ooh, really going out on a limb with that prediction.
Jay is a visionary. He also sees the NFL dominating Major League Soccer in the ratings next week!
I knew that Megamind would beat Unstoppable, which doesn’t look very interesting anyway. Why are these type of movies made over and over again? I think Denzel Washington needs to move on from these types of movie. I haven’t seen Morning Glory, but I really want to. I hope it isn’t as bad as some of the people on here are saying it is. Today, though, I am going to go and see Conviction at my local independent film theater. I have been waiting to see it and I can’t believe that the larger theaters don’t have it; at least they don’t around where I live!!!
Megamind is just another mindless babysitter movie.
For real, isn’t this the second movie about a train that Denzel Washington has made in the past 2 years?
Honestly, what is it with the push to put Patrick Wilson in romantic comedies, Morning Glory is his 3rd one this year he has to be one of the most BLAND actors working today he has zero fire/charisma on screen. Just boring and safe and not an audience draw. Rachel McAdams deserved better.
He was in 3 other rom coms? Which ones were they?
He was in 2 other romantic comedies The Switch with Jennifer Aniston out in 8/10 and Barry Munday released 10/1 which was definitely a flop.
Oh yes he is so bland. He wasn’t captivating at all in “Little Children” and he was so bland in “Angels in America” that they decided to give him an emmy nomination.
If we’re gonna start a Rachel McAdams / Katherine Heigl war for America’s Sweetheart, I hope to God that Rachel McAdams wins, simply for the irony of a Canadian being America’s sweetheart
This would tie into the fact that the very first “America’s Sweetheart”, Mary Pickford, was also Canadian (born in Toronto).
Last I checked, Canada and the U.S. are on the same continent.
Uh, yeah, but believe it or not we’re actually separate countries. So “America’s Sweetheart” doesn’t also mean “Canada’s Sweetheart”.
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are all part of North America. The good ol’ you ess of ayyy does not own exclusive rights to the word “America.”
How on Earth did Due Date cost $65 million? Seriously! It is about two guys who drive across country. No CGI, no aliens, no 3D… Is beardy getting $20 mill a picture? Is Jr. making hit movies (that don’t feature the words “Iron” or “Man” in the title)??? Hollywood must serously stop wasting money. No wonder they are all afraid to take any risks out west.
He currently has 2 franchises. Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.
I think Iron Man is largely successful because of Downey, at least more so than any other actor who plays a superhero can claim for their franchises.
Correct, “Sherlock Holmes” had neither “Iron” nor “Man” in the title. Wait, let me double check…yeah, no Iron or Man.
I found it interesting that Morning Glory attracted a mostly older female audience with most members being over 25 – wow, never thought of 25 as old – who knew?
Older, as it states in the article, does not necessarily mean old. The point they’re trying to get across is that not many teens or college-age people showed up. It was an older crowd.
I think it’s time for Rachel to show us her goods
methinks this time next week, Harry Potter part 6.5 will have made $160 million. New North American box office weekend take ever. Until Twilight 3.5 comes out.
Just got back from catching Morning Glory. Not the best films I’ve ever seen, but very, very funny. Never been to a movie where they can have the audience laughing for 5 minutes straight.