The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
The month of August kicked off with the long-awaited live action movie based on the popular Hasbro toys, comic books and cartoons as Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount), starring Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Dennis Quaid and Marlon Wayans, took the top spot with an impressive $56.2 million (estimated) in 4,007 theaters, averaging roughly $14,000 per location. It takes its place as the fourth-biggest August opening of all time, and when one adds in the roughly $44 million grossed overseas this weekend, it makes “G.I. Joe” one of the top August openings of all time.
Second place went to Nora Ephron’s foodie biopic Julie & Julia (Sony), starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, which brought in $20.1 million in 2,354 theaters. With a rumored production budget of $40 million, it’s looking to become Sony’s second profitable movie of the summer with strong hopes for next week’s District 9 to be the third.
Jerry Bruckheimer’s 3D guinea pig action adventure G-Force (Disney) dropped to third with $9.8 million and a running total of $86.1 million after three weekends.
The sixth installment of Warner Bros.’ hit franchise Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince fell two places to fourth with $8.9 million, down 50% from its last weekend. In four weeks, it has grossed $273.8 million, which is more than any of the previous movies in the franchise did in the same time frame. Currently, it’s shooting to be the second-highest grossing movie of the franchise after the first, as it aims for the roughly $292 million made by the previous movie.
Judd Apatow’s Funny People (Universal), starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, tanked badly in its second weekend, plummeting 65% to fifth place with $7.9 million and $40.4 million total. Apparently, the more serious nature of the movie has really hurt the movie with both Apatow and Sandler’s fans as the exit polls done by CinemaScore last week were not very favorable. Best it can hope for is roughly $50 million total at this point.
Dropping to sixth place, Sony’s battle-of-the-sexes comedy The Ugly Truth took sixth place with $7 million and $69 million total, based on a $38 million production budget, nearly half of what it cost to make Funny People.
The return of director David Twohy (Pitch Black) with the paradise-based thriller A Perfect Getaway (Rogue Pictures), starring Milla Jovovich and Timothy Olyphant, failed to find much of an audience, as it brought in just $5.8 million in 2,159 theaters for seventh place.
Fox’s family comedy Aliens in the Attic was eighth with $4 million and $17 million total, while the Warner Bros. horror-thriller Orphan added $3.7 million to its total gross of just under $35 million.
Marc Webb’s (500) Days of Summer (Fox Searchlight), starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (also in “G.I. Joe”) and Zoeey Deschanel, expanded nationwide into 817 theaters, allowing it to finally break into the top 10, just below Orphan.
The Top 10 grossed roughly $127 million, which is down roughly 9% from the same weekend last year.
Opening in 38 theaters in select cities, Charlyne Yi’s romantic mockumentary Paper Heart, co-starring Michael Cera, brought in $206 thousand, a relatively meager $5,400 per site.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
