Toy Story 3 stands alone
Nothing else even came close.
Toy Story 3, in 3D at many locations, simply destroyed all competition this week at the box office, hauling in a mammoth $110 million in its debut… and that was just domestically! Add in worldwide box office totals and the flick that cost Pixar $200 million to make has already made most of its money back, with $184 million already in its coffers. That’s not bad at all, and proof that G and soft PG-rated family fare is still the best way to make money in Hollywood.
Whether watching it in a theater or on a Samsung smart phone, Toy Story 3 was seen by a LOT of people already, and it’s unlikely to slow down much any time soon.
Karate (Kung-Fu) Kid came in with an additional $29.8 million in its second week, bringing its 10-day total to around $107 million… not bad for a flick that cost only $40 million to make. A-Team finished third but continued to disappoint, drawing in a mere $14.4 million and finishing nearly 50 percent behind Karate (Kung Fu) Kid for the second straight week.
Yet the biggest bomb of the week was Jonah Hex, the DC Comics-inspired western that featured Josh Brolin in the title role and recently-fired-from-Transformers-3 chick Megan Fox in support, barely made a blip on the radar, coming in at seventh place overall with only $5.3 million in its opening weekend against a $47 million budget; even Prince of Persia: Sands of Time beat it, and that film’s been out for a month now.
Speaking of Prince of Persia, while the $200-million-budget film has only grossed about $82 million domestically, expect a sequel; the film’s going crazy overseas and has grossed around $295 million when global receipts are added in. Outstanding!
Can Toy Story 3 stay on top? I think so; Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are unlikely to open Knight and Day strong enough to stunt Toy Story 3′s momentum, and Grown-Ups just isn’t going to be a big-open film. The real test will come at the end of June, when both M. Night Shyamalan’s take on The Last Airbender, and the much-anticipated third Twilight Saga film, Eclipse, both open.
Come July 30, there will be winners and losers galore. No telling which will be which till we get there, though. It’s that kind of summer.