Despite this year being something of a come back for the box office with year to date sales almost 4% higher than 2011, this weekend movies saw the weakest sales in years. According to the score keepers at Box Office Mojo this was the slowest weekend overall in theaters since September 2008.
That made for a rough reception for newcomers The Words and The Cold Light of Day both of which saw miserable debuts.
It was good news/bad news for The Words, which squeaked into a limp third place with just $5 million, but made enough money against its simple $6 million budget to see a modest profit somewhere down the road.
There was nothing but bad news for The Cold Light of Day which, despite being in wide release, only banked $1.8 million for a pathetic 13th place. That was just enough to top the IMAX re-release of Raiders of the Lost Ark which earned a higher per theater total than anything in the top ten this weekend, earning $1.7 million on just 267 screens for 14th place over all. For the full top ten weekend break down, check out the chart below:
