Carrey's 'Horton' Tops Boxoffice

[staypuftman2004]

Who" says business is bad?

Fox's animated feature "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!" hit all its marks during the weekend, when the family comedy featuring the voice of Jim Carrey opened with an estimated $45.1 million to top the domestic boxoffice and re-energize a recently slack marketplace.

Warner Bros.' prehistoric adventure "10,000 BC" dropped an acceptable 54% in its second weekend to take second place with $16.4 million and a $61.2 million cume. Summit Entertainment's mixed-martial arts film "Never Back Down" bowed about as expected with $8.6 million in third place.

The weekend was bolstered by high school and college students hitting spring break, but the session included at least one belly flop. The R-rated thriller "Doomsday," from Universal's Rogue genre unit, appears doomed for quick excursion to DVD after fetching just $4.7 million in a limp debut in seventh place.

Industrywide, the weekend's $119 million in collective grosses notched a 1% improvement over the same frame last year, according to Nielsen EDI. That broke a string of five consecutive downticks in year-over-year weekend comparisons.


Year-to-date, 2008 is 2% ahead of the same portion of last year with $1.84 billion in industry boxoffice.

Elsewhere during the weekend, Disney's family comedy "College Road Trip" drove into fourth place in its sophomore session, slipping a modest 42% from opening grosses to $7.9 million and a 10-day cume of $24.3 million. With "Road Trip" and the "Horton" opener both rated G, the weekend represented the first time in more than seven years that two top-five films boasted the industry's most family-friendly rating, Nielsen said.

Sony's leggy Dennis Quaid starrer "Vantage Point" finished in fifth place for the frame with $5.4 million in its fourth outing, shaping a $59.2 million cume. Lionsgate's heist film "The Bank Job" parked in sixth as the Jason Statham starrer used a teensy 17% slide from opening grosses to score $4.9 million and a $13.1 million cume.

In a limited bow, Warner Independent Pictures' remake of the German hostage film "Funny Games" grossed $520,000 from 289 engagements, or a thin $1,800 per venue.

[cp32]

I liked it. :-0=)