Every three years Hollywood revisits the question of what would happen if a group of inordinately bad actors got together to make a movie about what would happen if you tried to cheat death...and lost. The real losers, though, are the ones who drop cash to see the movies in the first place but they seem to be growing in numbers.
Final Destinations 1, 2 and 3 saw successive opening weekends of $10 million, $16 million and $19 million respectively. Final Destination 4, which tried to get clever by dropping the 4 and adding a "The", took the franchise to new financial heights with a first place opening at $28 million. It's not that the movies are getting better, audiences are just willing to shell out more for sub-par sequel entertainment.
Another abysmal sequel rolled out this weekend as well. Halloween 2 (which for those of you keeping track of the bizarre chain of Halloween franchises is the second Halloween 2 on the books) didn't fare as well as its series reboot predecessor. That film, released two years ago, debuted at $25 million. This weekend its followup only banked $17 million for a mediocre third place.
Nostalgia comedy Taking Woodstock got off to a more than rocky start, only taking in $3.7 million for a weak ninth place. The original concert event may have been a triumph of numbers, but it was a financial disaster. The film version couldn't do much better. With a $30 million budget it will warm your heart but has slim chances of making any cash. Kinda poetic.
For the full weekend top ten check out the chart below.
