Box Office Results 03/08/10

Hey, Alice? Eat Me

By William Goss | Posted Under Box Office Round-Ups | Comments (8)

Just as the wild success of The Dark Knight made IMAX a significantly more popular brand, even for films not shot in the format, the post-production 3-D trend in the wake of Avatar has already paid off handsomely for Alice in Wonderland, as it raked in a ridiculous $116 million this weekend. (I’m curious how many of those people, though, were disappointed to find out that Johnny Depp wasn’t in fact playing Alice.) $200 million will be a cinch, with no other family competition until the 19th (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, only in lackluster 2-D) and the 26th (How to Train Your Dragon, the trailer for which many kids went mommy-mommy! for at the Alice showing I attended).

The weekend’s other wide release, the much less whimsical Brooklyn’s Finest, opened to a decent $13.5 million, putting it on par with many of Richard Gere’s outings without Julia Roberts. Fare like next week’s Green Zone and bleak word-of-mouth will probably keep it from doing Training Day-level business in the long run (also a hurdle: not being as good as Training Day).

After holding the top for two weeks, Scorsese’s Shutter Island slipped to third with $13.3 million, with another 40-ish percent drop in attendance indicating decent buzz that could be keeping the crowd from dropping off more steeply. Fourth was Cop Out with $9.1 million and $32.4 million total, making it Kevin Smith’s highest-grossing film to date. Best Picture nominee Avatar clung around in fifth despite losing screens to Alice, taking in another $7.7 million, while The Crazies brought in another $7 million for itself in sixth place.

Percy Jackson earned $5.1 million for seventh, Valentine’s Day got another $4.3 million out of procrastinating saps, Crazy Heart enjoyed a pre-Oscar boost with $3.6 million in ninth, and closing things out was another $2.9 million from all of the people who are just now seeing Dear John. (They thought this was the one with the twist everyone kept telling them about.)

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Comments

32.4? That's pretty sad, how much did Clerks 2 make?

Prepare for an Alice sequel, somehow, some way. Maybe they'll do American McGee style and Alice will really start cutting some bitches.

Posted by: Mick J at March 8, 2010 12:12 PM

I saw 2D Alice in Underland Saturday. It was gorgeous and IMO extremely well executed. My only problems were expressionless Alice and the proposed but under-developed backstory of the queens. Also, I remembered why I don't see children's movies at the theatre. It was a dimly lit daycare. Throughout the movie there were countless (unaccompanied) small children running back and forth and playing in the ailes and chairs. I was overjoyed when Christopher Lee's Jabberwocky came out and scared the little bastards senseless. I hope their parents have to wake up and check closets every night for a month.

Posted by: ThunderSacTriumph at March 8, 2010 12:21 PM

I’m curious how many of those people, though, were disappointed to find out that Johnny Depp wasn’t in fact playing Alice.

Heh, really. I'm amazed and a little annoyed at how just about every single poster for this movie features the Mad Hatter far, far more than they show Alice. I think I've seen ONE billboard where Alice shows up, and in that, she's at the tea party and the Mad Hatter is on a throne. Everything else has been that stupid looking face in the terrible makeup.

Burton should have just made a movie about the Mad Hatter, get over his hardon for Johnny Depp, and left Alice alone.

Posted by: figgy at March 8, 2010 12:36 PM

There were approximately a bizillionty people at my local mega plextor on Saturday. I was really confused; I was just going to see Crazy Heart. In fact, I said to my date while parking in a neighboring state "man, I hope it's not sold out, DAMMIT why did I try to go see an Oscar nom film the night before the ceremony?" Then I realized my folly, silly me.
Plus side? There were maybe 5 other people in our theater.

Posted by: Ian at March 8, 2010 1:04 PM

Well, I spent Oscar night watching Oscar winning film "Departures." It's a Japanese film about a cellist who looses his job with an orchestra and ends up washing the dead for a living (if you'll pardon the pun). Excellent. Bring hankies.

Posted by: BWeaves at March 8, 2010 4:40 PM

I think I would actually be more inclined to see if if Depp was playing Alice. I think he could pull it off...

Posted by: badkittyuno at March 8, 2010 7:27 PM

Here's what I don't get about Alice in Wonderland.

I understand the idea of hiring someone like Elija Wood and making him up to look just like Johnny Depp, but what is the logic of paying Depp his $25+ million dollar sallary and then making him up to look just like Elija Wood? If that was the look they were going for, I think I could have saved Disney about $24.5 million dollars.

Posted by: Irving Washington at March 8, 2010 8:31 PM

You mean Depp didn't play Alice?! Man, I must have been watching a different movie. ^.^

Posted by: Kelly at March 9, 2010 3:43 PM

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Hey, Alice? Eat Me

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