Monday Morning Box Office Report: Clint Eastwood Opens a Can of Whoop-Ass
After opening in limited release in December, Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino managed to take home the box office crown when it finally got its shot at a wide release this past weekend. Perhaps this is proof that the movie never should have been marketed as an art house Oscar contender, since it clearly has mainstream appeal. Perhaps it is also proof that the public wants another Dirty Harry movie, as this is Clint Eastwood’s strongest opening weekend ever. You could say that it didn’t have much competition, but I honestly expected Bride Wars to do a lot better than it did. Bride Wars just barely edged out David Goyer’s The Unborn for the #2 spot, both taking in about $21 million. Marley & Me and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button rounded out the top 5, with Ben Button finally overtaking Disney’s Bedtime Stories. Not Easily Broken also managed to sneak it at #9 despite having little to no marketing.
1. Gran Torino — $29M
2. Bride Wars — $21.5M
3. The Unborn — $21.1M
4. Marley & Me — $11.3M
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — $9.45M
6. Bedtime Stories — $8.55M
7. Valkyrie — $6.66M
8. Yes Man — $6.16M
9. Not Easily Broken — $5.6M
10. Seven Pounds — $3.9M
Comments (4)
No matter what anyone thinks about Torino, it is still entertaining.
Posted by Goon on January 12th, 2009Saw this at the weekend. I’m with Jay on this – I really enjoyed it.
Posted by Paul Andrews on January 12th, 2009I’m part of the $21.5 million. Yeah, you read that right.
Posted by Andrew James on January 12th, 2009I can’t believe this is Clint’s strongest opening weekend. Is that strongest for either acting or directing?
I wonder if word-of-mouth will help “Gran Torino” for the following week.
I am wondering how it managed to beat “Bride Wars.” Is there an untapped seniors market that is stronger than the female market? Maybe the next Star Trek movie should unite the new and old casts. Ha ha.
Posted by Reed Farrington on January 13th, 2009Leave a Reply