Despite production troubles that have seen Where The Wild Things Are get delayed by over a year (largely due to problems with the special effects and the studio worrying about the tone of Spike Jonze’s take on Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book), the film has come roaring out the gates with a box-office topping $32.4 million on its opening weekend in the US. It’s great news for a film that many saw as a big gamble, due to its indie sensibilities compared to the amount it cost to make.
However the big news of this weekend’s US box office is once again Paranormal Activity. The microbudget, ‘found footage’, scary movie added an extra 600 screens and another $20 million to its box office take. On only 760 screens it placed number three on the chart, averaging $26,000 per screen. That’s three times the per screen average of any other movie in the top 10.
People are already comparing the movie to its fellow mockumentary horror flick, The Blair Witch Project, and wondering whether the movie has the legs to become as big a hit. Paranormal Activity is currently following a very similar trajectory at the box office to Blair Witch, and so may well make as much money by the end of its box office run.
As well as Where The Wild Things are, there were a couple more new entries on the list, with Law Abiding Citizen, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx, getting off to a solid but unspectacular start, with $21 million, and the horror remake, The Stepfather, placing fifth with $12.3 million.
Look below for the full US box office top 10 for the weekend of October 16th-18th.
Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
1 | Where The Wild Things Are | $32.4 | $32.4 |
2 | Law Abiding Citizen | $21.2 | $21.2 |
3 | Paranormal Activity | $20.1 | $33.7 |
4 | Couples Retreat | $17.9 | $63.3 |
5 | The Stepfather | $13.2 | $12.3 |
6 | Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs | $8.1 | $108.2 |
7 | Zombieland | $7.8 | $60.8 |
8 | Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D | $3.0 | $28.6 |
9 | Surrogates | $1.9 | $35.3 |
10 | The Invention Of Lying | $1.9 | $15.4 |