Weekend Box Office - Alice Visits Box Office Wonderland

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With the February doldrums past, Hollywood started rolling out some of its bigger guns and this weekend the first blockbuster of the season rolled out with both barrels blazing.

Alice's return down the rabbit hole took in an estimated $116 million for a hugely successful number one debut that marks the highest ever March opening. That title was previously held by 300 which banked $70 million back in 2007.

Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland overtook Avatar as the largest ever opening for a movie released predominantly in 3D. The good news is that Avatar has one less record to blab about. The bad news is, this is the start of a 3D revolution that will serve no other real purpose than to drive up ticket prices.

It can be easily argued that Alice in Wonderland's financial success has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it was 3D with one exception: ticket price. How many people out there wouldn't have seen the movie if it hadn't been in 3D? Probably none. How many people who saw it in 3D paid more for their ticket than those who saw it in the limited 2D theaters? All of them. And was it worth the extra money to see Helen Bonham Carter's already CG enlarged head bulging out of the screen? No.

In a painfully distant second, Training Day director Antoine Fuqua's latest offering Brooklyn's Finest saw a dismal $13 million opening. And just think, if he'd released it in 3D with 3D ticket prices he probably could have easily banked $18 million.

For the full top ten weekend, check out the chart below.

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1.Alice in Wonderland (2010) *$116,300,000 -Total: $116,300,000LW: N WR: 1THTRS: 3,728
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2.Brooklyn's Finest *$13,500,000 -Total: $13,500,000LW: N WR: 1THTRS: 1,936
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3.Shutter Island$13,300,000 -Total: $95,825,000LW: 1 WR: 3THTRS: 3,178
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4.Cop Out$9,145,000 -Total: $32,360,000LW: 2 WR: 2THTRS: 3,150
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5.Avatar$7,700,000 -Total: $720,189,000LW: 4 WR: 12THTRS: 2,163
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6.The Crazies$7,016,000 -Total: $27,409,000LW: 3 WR: 2THTRS: 2,479
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7.Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief$5,100,000 -Total: $78,033,000LW: 5 WR: 4THTRS: 2,994
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8.Valentine's Day$4,270,000 -Total: $106,420,000LW: 6 WR: 4THTRS: 3,040
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9.Crazy Heart$3,350,000 -Total: $29,569,000LW: 10 WR: 12THTRS: 1,274
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10.Dear John$2,850,000 -Total: $76,694,000LW: 7 WR: 5THTRS: 2,496
Scott Gwin