Meatballs Win Again, Surrogates in Distant 2nd

Published by Jeff Leins on: September 27th, 2009

After dominating last weekend, Sony Picture Animation’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs repeated its box office win over three newcomers as audiences went back for seconds.  Surrogates, Fame, and Pandorum all fell to the falling food flick.

The animated family film made another $24.6 million, only a 19% drop from week to week for a total so far of $60 million.  It capitalized on 3-D premiums, positive word of mouth (a very impressive 85% critic score on RottenTomatoes), and the lack of kiddie fare among a dull September slate.  No one expected it to hold on like it did though.

Experts picked Bruce Willis’ Surrogates to lead, but either people were creeped out by seeing him with hair or no one bought into the sexy android marketing campaign.  The PG-13 sci-fi thriller made only $15 million, well below expectations for an $80 million movie.

In third was the remake of Fame, which didn’t do well even during a time when musicals typically earn big bucks.  It made only $10 million with no recognizable stars and a little bit of 80’s nostalgia.  78% of the audience was female.  The performing arts school story only cost MGM $18 million to make, so they’re not too concerned with the slow start.

The last big opening was the R-rated science fiction/horror movie Pandorum, which premiered in sixth and just $4.6 million.  Horror does not seem to be doing so well this far away from Halloween.  Meanwhile, star Dennis Quaid is sleeping comfortable on G.I. Joe dollars.

Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story opened in four markets and captured the largest per theater average of the year with $60k at each.  I had the opportunity to see it early and here’s what I thought.  The documentary expands next weekend.

By contrast, exaggerator Tucker Max’s movie I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell made only $369,000 in 120 locations.

3-Day U.S. Weekend Estimates:
1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs  $24.6 million
2. Surrogates  $15 million
3. Fame  $10 million
4. The Informant!  $6.9 million
5. Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself  $4.8 million
6. Pandorum  $4.6 million
7. Love Happens  $4.3 million
8. Jennifer’s Body  $3.5 million
9. 9  $2.8 million
10. Inglourious Basterds  $2.7 million