As expected, the animated movie about the elephant Horton,
who claims that he has discovered another world, a microscopic one, on a dust
speck, has topped this weekend box office.
Based on the estimations released by BoxOfficeMojo, “Dr.
Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!”, has earned $45 million in ticket sales.
Directed by former Pixar animator Jimmy Hayward and former
“Robots” art director Steve Martino and scripted by partners Ken Daurio and
Cinco Paul, whose credits include “College Road Trip,” “Horton” gives Theodore
Geisel’s 1954 literary classic a full-blown star treatment with Jim Carrey,
Steve Carell along with folksy news commentator Charles Osgood supplying the
voice-over narration.
The movie’s earning, that had a budget of $80 million, have
met the Twentieth Century Fox’s expectations, that forecasted that the movie
will gain at least $40 million, possibly
more than $50 million during its first three days in theaters across the U.S.
and Canada.
“Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!” opened better than the last
weekend’s champion, “10,000 B.C.”, which earned only $35.7 million. Though, “Dr.
Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!”, didn’t break any record, being just the
fifth-biggest G-rated opening ever.
As for “10,000 B.C.” it has slipped to the second place,
earning $16.4 million for the three-day period.
Directed by Roland Emmerich, “10,000 B.C.” tells the story
of D’Leh (Steven Strait), a young hunter who lives in a
mythical age of prophesies and gods, when spirits rule the land and mighty
mammoths shake the earth. When his loved one, Evolet (Camilla Belle) is
kidnapped by a band of mysterious warlords, he embarks on a journey to the end
of the world to save her.
He leads a small group of hunters and as they venture
into unknown lands for the first time, the group discovers there are
civilizations beyond their own and that mankind’s reach is far greater than
they ever knew. The movie earned in ten days since its premiere $61 million only
in the United States.
“10,000 B.C” was closely followed “Never Back Down”, a
newcomer which gained $8.6 million. Produced by Sumit Entertainment, the story of “Never Back
Down” is set in the action-packed world of Mixed Martial Arts.
Martin Lawrence’s “College Road Trip”, which earned $14
million during its opening weekend, has slipped to the fourth place earning an
additional $7.8 million.
“Vantage Point”, the action thriller starring Denis Quaid
and Matthew Fox as Secret Service agents earned the fifth place with $5.4
million.
Another movie that premiered last weekend, “The Bank Job,”
has slipped form the fifth to the sixth spot with $4.9 million. “The Bank Job”
is based on a true story of a bank robbery which happened in 1971 in Baker Street, London.
The movie casts Jason Statham as Terry, a husband and father of two young
daughters, which is enrolled by Martine Love (Saffron Burrows), a beautiful
model, to rob a bank. But while Terry believes this is common bank robbery,
Love is after some photos.
“Doomsday”, a Sci-Fi thriller directed by Neil Marshall,
opened in the seventh place with $4,743,000. In the movie, Major Eden Sinclair
(Rhona Mitra) is leading a team of specialists, which need to venture into a
25-year-old quarantine zone in order to retrieve a cure for a virus, Reaper. During
their mission, they will need the survivors of the pandemic infection.
Will Ferrel’s “Semi Pro” made it to Top 10 on the eighth
place with $3 million, earning in total $29,846,000, two weeks after its
release.
The ninth place was taken by “The Other Boleyn Girl”, the
movie about Mary, Queen Anne Boleyn’s sister, who was also one-time mistress of
King Henry VIII. Set during the reign of Henry VIII (Eric Bana), a defining
moment in England’s
history, two sisters Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary (Scarlett Johansson)
Boleyn have to win the affection of the King due to the ambitions of their
father and uncle, played by Mark Rylance and David Morrissey. The movie gained
$2,900,000 this weekend.
The Top 10 was closed by “Jumper”, which earned $2,135,000.
