Who's on First
17 March 2008
Whoville scored a massive victory at the box-office over the weekend as the G-rated Horton Hears a Who! hauled in an estimated $45.1 million, making it the best opening so far this year. Some analysts predicted that the actual take will turn out to be even higher when receipts from morning and matinee screenings for kids on Sunday are tallied. With spring break hitting many cities this week, the film is also expected to perform strongly through next weekend, which includes the Easter holiday. Also opening this week, Summit Entertainment's Never Back Down performed about as expected as it took in about $8.6 million to place third, but Universal's Doomsday appeared doomed to failure as it debuted in seventh place with just $4.7 million. Last weekend's winner, 10,000 B.C., came closer to extinction when it dropped 54 percent to earn $16.4 percent, raising its gross to $61.2 million.
The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Horton Hears a Who!, $45.1 million; 2. 10,000 B.C., $16.4 million; 3. Never Back Down, $8.6 million; 4. College Road Trip, $7.9 million; 5. Vantage Point, $5.4 million; 6. The Bank Job, $4.9 million; 7. Doomsday, $4.7 million; 8. Semi-Pro, $3 million; 9. The Other Boleyn Girl, $2.9 million; 10. The Spiderwick Chronicles, $2.4 million.