Weekend Box Office: District 9 Rules!

Finally a number one film to be excited about. There is no doubt that many critics thought that District 9 was the best film of the summer, but it was yet to be seen if audiences would respond. Everything from the first time director (Neill Blomkamp) and never before seen star (Sharlto Copley) to the interesting marketing campaign with alien posters all over LA and NY, made this film worth watching, but not necessarily a guarantee. It wasn’t clear if they were going to be able to pull it off at the box office, but luckily, they were!

Check out this weekends numbers…

1. District 9 | New | Weekend Gross $37,000,000 | Average Per Theater $12,135 | World Gross $37,000,000 | Production Cost $30 | Week  1
2. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | LW 1 | Weekend Gross $22,500,000 | Average Per Theater $5,615 | World Gross $98,753,000 | Production Cost $175 | Week  2
3. The Time Traveler’s Wife | New | Weekend Gross $19,205,000 | Average Per Theater $6,427 | World Gross $19,205,000 | Production Cost $39 | Week 1
4. Julie & Julia | LW 2 | Weekend Gross $12,400,000 | Average Per Theater $5,268 | World Gross $43,684,000  | Production Cost $40 | Week 2
5. G-Force | LW 3 | Weekend Gross $6,908,000 | Average Per Theater $2,254 | World Gross $99,049,000 | Week4
6. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard | New | Weekend Gross $5,350,000 | Average Per Theater $2,911 | World Gross $5,350,000 | Week 1
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | LW 4 | Weekend Gross $5,155,000 | Average Per Theater $1,860 | World Gross $283,893,000 | Production Cost $250 | Week 5
8. The Ugly Truth | LW 6 | Weekend Gross$4,500,000 | Average Per Theater $1,647 | World Gross $77,502,000  | Production Cost $38 | Week 4
9. Ponyo | New | Weekend Gross $3,506,000 | Average Per Theater $3,782 | World Gross $3,506,000 | Week 1
10. (500) Days of Summer | LW 9 | Weekend Gross $3,025,000 | Average Per Theater $2,886 | World Gross $17,955,000 | Week 5

That’s right G.I. Joe, you slide down that top ten. You may have hid from critics for a short while, but you knew that your only chance at making your money in the states was by opening big your first weekend. Once word got out (and it has) it’s a slippery slop for you.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, seems to be a miss. It’s been a tough summer for comedies. Either they hit big (like The Hangover) or they fall on their faces (Land of the Lost, Year One). Looks like The Goods is closer to the latter.

What do you think of this weekends numbers?