Darren (Chris Massoglia, left) is introduced by Crepsley (John C. Reilly) to the freak show in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant. The fantasy adventure came in at No. 9 with $3 million in box office sales.
HOLLYWOOD — The last time one of Michael Jackson’s tours played the United States was 1988. So perhaps it’s no surprise that This Is It, a documentary made from rehearsal footage for Jackson’s planned London concert series, did more than twice as much business internationally in its first five days as it did domestically.
This Is It opened to a studio-estimated $68.5 million in 108 foreign territories from Wednesday through Sunday and $34.4 million in the United States and Canada, where it premiered Oct. 28.
The lopsided debut forThis Is It puts it in a small group of films this year to sell more than twice as many tickets overseas as at home.
This Is It was the only new movie to open nationwide, as most studios wanted to avoid competing with trickor-treating and Halloween parties. Columbia was forced to choose the unpopular date for This Is It because it wanted to rush the film out this season and every other weekend was crowded with major new releases.
Two movies opened in limited release Friday, however, to varying results.
The Boondock Saints II:All Saints Day started with a decent $546,687 at 68 locations. That’s more than 15 times the total ticket sales for the ultra-violent original, an infamous flop in 2000 that found renewed life on DVD.
Gentleman Broncos, from Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess, debuted to a weak $10,000 at two theaters.
The Weinstein Co. expanded its August release, Halloween II, to take advantage of the holiday but did virtually no business, grossing just $445,344 at 1,083 theaters.
Overall, the weekend box office was a bit better than expected, as total weekend ticket sales rose 5 percent from a year ago, when Halloween was on a Friday, according to Hollywood.com.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com:
1. This Is It, Columbia, $23,234,394, 3,481 locations, $6,675 average, $34,442,926, one week.
2. Paranormal Activity, Paramount, $16,387,327, 2,404 locations, $6,817 average,$84,627,372, six weeks.
3. Law Abiding Citizen, Overture Films, $7,403,630, 2,764 locations, $2,679 average, $51,485,280, three weeks.
4. Couples Retreat, Universal, $6,460,525, 3,026 locations, $2,135 average, $87,026,280, four weeks.
5. Where the Wild Things Are, Warner Bros., $5,931,417, 3,645 locations, $1,627 average, $62,650,379, three weeks.
6. Saw VI, Lionsgate, $5,270,794, 3,036 locations, $1,736 average, $22,534,749, two weeks.
7. Astro Boy, Summit, $3,460,651, 3,020 locations, $1,146 average, $11,316,418, two weeks.
8. The Stepfather, Columbia Screen Gems, $3,207,792, 2,346 locations, $1,367 average, $24,555,801, three weeks.
9. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Universal, $3,098,185, 2,754 locations, $1,125 average, $10,809,975, two weeks.
10.Amelia, Fox Searchlight, $3,034,667, 1,070 locations, $2,836 average, $8,340,499, two weeks.
11. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Columbia, $2,747,476, 2,322 locations, $1,183 average,$118,604,078, seven weeks.
12. Zombieland, Columbia, $2,620,655, 2,056 locations, $1,275 average, $71,181,556, five weeks.
13. A Serious Man, Focus, $1,036,396, 238 locations, $4,355 average, $4,595,629, five weeks.
14. Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, Apparition, $546,687, 68 locations, $8,040 average, $546,687,one week.
15.An Education, Columbia Pictures Classics, $467,376, 48 locations, $9,737 average, $1,537,993, four weeks.
16. Halloween II, Weinstein Co., $445,344, 1,083 locations, $411 average, $33,096,757, 10 weeks.
17. Good Hair, Roadside Attractions, $422,472, 418 locations, $1,011 average,$3,453,044, four weeks.
18. The Invention of Lying, Warner Bros., $393,270, 452 locations, $870 average, $17,589,249, five weeks.
19. Capitalism: A Love Story, Overture, $373,992, 492 locations, $760 average, $13,664,911, six weeks.
20. Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3-D, Disney, $262,347, 343 locations, $765 average, $30,593,152, five weeks.
MovieStyle, Pages 43 on 11/06/2009
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