If you were wondering where the Wild Things were this weekend, you weren’t alone. Audiences found them in theaters and shelled out $32 million for the opportunity. That’s a tidy sum for what’s shaping up to be one of the most lucrative October tallies on record. Usually it’s a slow month with only one movie topping the $30 million mark. This makes two for 2009 (last week’s number one Couples Retreat banked $34 million).
Despite being number one, Where The Wild Things Are isn’t exactly a rousing financial success. Somewhere in the midst of those puppets and CGI sets Spike Jonze and company managed to blow a whopping $100 million on the movie. That may not sound like much, but if you’ve seen the film you may be joining others asking “How the heck did it cost that much?” After all, George Lucas made the far more effects-heavy Star Wars: The Phantom Menace for $115 million and Del Toro did the more elaborate Hellboy 2 for only $85 million. Maybe the weak dollar has made faux muppet fur really, really expensive.
Number two this weekend was Law Abiding Citizen. Despite having Academy Award material like Jamie Foxx and current chief Hollywood heartthrob Gerard Butler, it was still bad enough to only garner $21 million. The third new release this week, The Stepfather, bowed in at fifth place with a meager $12 million.
Despite an announced extended engagement, Toy Story/Toy Story 2 (3D) didn’t drum up any new excitement. The double feature slipped a hefty 61% from last weekend to the eight place spot. Even after two weeks in theaters it has yet to top the $30 million domestic gross mark with less than half what Toy Story 2 made in its first opening weekend ten years ago.
For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below.
