May 26, 2012

Wild Things Happen at the Box Office

by Rebecca Pahle | Published October 19, 2009

Spike Jonze’s highly anticipated adaptation of the classic picture book Where the Wild Things Are took the top spot this week, earning $32.4 million since its Friday release. Reviews for the film have been mixed, with many critics calling it too dark for a family audience, but it was able to easily pull ahead of the Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler-starring Law Abiding Citizen, which earned only $21.2 million and earned spot number two. The low-budget suspense thriller Paranormal Activity made it to the third spot, beating out that other horror movie, The Stepfather, which took spot number five. Over the weekend, Paranormal Activity made nearly $8 million more than The Stepfather, despite the fact that Paranormal Activity is playing on less than a third as many screens. The Vince Vaughn comedy Couples Retreat, which took the number one spot last week, fell to number four.

Out in limited release this week are Black Dynamite and The Maid; the latter made $18,600 during its weekend run at just one theater. Next week horror film junkies have something to look forward to, as Paranormal Activity and The Stepfather will be joined by Saw VI. The animated sci-fi kids movie Astro Boy is also set for release, as is Amelia Earhart biopic Amelia, The Vampire’s Assistant and Ong-Bak 2 in limited release.