‘Museum’ tops box office with $37.8M
LOS ANGELES – Ben Stiller’s playful “Night at the Museum” was the top box office draw during the New Year’s weekend with $37.8 million, a 24 percent jump over its debut the previous week, according to studio estimates released Sunday.
Uplifting movies dominated the Top 10 for the holiday weekend, a busy period at turnstiles.
Will Smith’s “The Pursuit of Happyness” took second place with $19.3 million, up 30 percent, while the musical “Dreamgirls” finished third with $15.5 million.
“The Pursuit of Happyness” was expected to cross the $100 million threshold on New Year’s Day.
No. 4 “Charlotte’s Web” was up 59 percent with $12 million in its third week. “Rocky Balboa” was in fifth place with $11.4 million.
No new movies went into wide release.
“Dreamgirls” saw a major surge in business, averaging a whopping $18,192 per screen as Paramount rolled it out slowly with word-of-mouth creating a buzz. It was showing on just 852 screens, compared to 3,768 for “Night at the Museum.”
“Dreamgirls,” the first musical sensation since “Chicago” in 2002, will expand to about 1,800 screens on Jan. 12.
“We knew it was a movie that was a real crowd-pleaser,” said Rob Moore, Paramount’s president of marketing and distribution. “The amazing word of mouth is bringing it along. It’s been a while since a musical really worked.”
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Wednesday.
1. “Night at the Museum,” $37.8 million.
2. “The Pursuit of Happyness,” $19.3 million.
3. “Dreamgirls,” $15.5 million.
4. “Charlotte’s Web,” $12 million
5. “Rocky Balboa,” $11.4 million.
6. “The Good Shepherd,” $11.2 million.
7. “Eragon,” $8.5 million.
8. “We Are Marshall,” $8 million.
9. “Happy Feet,” $7.8 million.
10. “The Holiday,” $6.7 million.
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