By Chris Kavan - 11/05/12 at 12:34 AM CT
It was an excellent weekend at the box office as two new comers ignited a one-two punch to put the top 12 films 20% ahead of the same weekend last year. It was also a welcome recovery in the northeast as families looking for a return to normalcy following the devastating hit by Sandy were a big reason the box office looked so good.
Opening in first place was the animated Wreck-It Ralph. With John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer leading the way, the ode to video games as an 8-bit villain looks to become a hero, took in $49.1 million. That is the best debut for Disney Animation - edging out Tangled ($48.8 million). While that number is below the Pixar standard of $60 million - it's still an excellent opening.
The audience was mostly young (57% under 25) and skewed slightly male (55%), and it was awarded an A cinemascore. With no other films targeting family audiences until Rise of the Guardians, Wreck-It Ralph should enjoy great word-of-mouth and could top out close to $200 million. The movie seems to have broad appeal with adults and children alike - and that is good news when you're looking to have a long, prosperous run.
Opening in second place, well ahead of expectations, was the Robert Zemeckis film Flight. Starring Denzel Washington as a pilot who makes a miraculous landing only to face withering scrutiny - it earned $25 million. What's more, it only opened in 1884 theaters (compared to Wreck-It Ralph, which opened in 3752) and had the best per-theater average out of any film with a nice $13,275. With a modest budget of $31 million, it will have no problem earning its money back. What's more, the audience reaction of an A- cinemascore means that the Oscar push the studio has given the film could easily pan out.
The week's other new wide-release opening, The Man with the Iron Fists, debuted with $8.2 million in fourth place. While that was in line with expectations compared to similar films (albeit towards the low end), the first directorial effort from RZA scored an anemic C+ score from audiences and should fade out fast with Skyfall on the way. Still, it also had a modest $15 million budget and even with the disappointing opening, it should ultimately wind up a winner.
Last week's top film, Argo, held up quite well considering the competition. Ben Affleck's hostage drama took just a 15.2% hit and wound up in third with $10.2 million. So far, the film has made $75.9 million in four weeks. It's still tracking ahead of The Town and should wind up passing that film's $92.2 million final tally.
Rounding out the top five, Taken 2 also continued its good run, taking in $6 million and raising its total to $125.66 million after five weeks. While it will probably fall just short of the $145 million the original film took in, with the global market factored in, it's no wonder they're already talking about making this series into a trilogy.
Falling outside the top five, Cloud Atlas took a steep 45.4% hit with $5.25 million in sixth place. So far the sci-fi epic has earned just $18.26 million and at this point in time a $30 million total might be the best the film can hope for.
Next week all eyes with be on Bond - James Bond - as Skyfall is the only new film hitting wide release. Considering the film has tallied an impressive $287 million in foreign markets - including the best debuts of the year in many of those foreign markets - it's looking like a monster domestic opening as well.
