Warner Bros.’ “Where the Wild Things Are” tore up the October record for a PG-live action film yesterday, grossing a boffo $11.9 million off 3,735 theaters.
Pic’s first day easily exceeded Warner Bros.’ expectations as the studio was predicting a weekend take in the mid-20s and it’s quite likely now that “Wild Things” could final somewhere in the 40s.
“We are thrilled with the strong No. 1 opening in this record breaking October weekend,” said Warner Bros. distrib topper Dan Fellman.
Also factoring into the B.O. for “Wild Things” were 145 Imax runs which counted 10% of the pic’s first day cume or $1.2 million. 55% of the moviegoers taking in “Wild Things” were under 25 years of age yesterday and gave the film a wonderful Cinemascore of A-.
Based on the classic 1963 children’s novel by Maurice Sendak and helmed by Spike Jonze, “Wild Things” had a long journey to the screen, beginning production in 2006. In adapting the 338 word book to screen, Jonze, worked closely with Sendak during production.
“Wild Things” outstripped last October’s “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” which owned the October opening day record for a live action pic with $8 million. DreamWorks Animation’s “Shark Tale” owns the overall PG opening day record in October with $12.9 million.
[b]Overture Films’ drama-thriller “Law Abiding Citizen” starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler also fared well in second with $7.6 million off 2,890, giving the distrib a record opening day since it began unspooling films in January 2008. “Citizen” bested Overture’s previous opening day high, the Robert De Niro-Al Pacino thriller “Righteous Kill” which generated $5.8 million in September of last year.[/b]
Paramount’s cult horror pic “Paranormal Activity” continued to fixate crowds in its expansion to 760 sites, with a gross of $6.7 million in its fourth Friday and a running cume of $20.3 million.
The frame’s new competition pushed last weekend’s No. 1 film “Couples Retreat” from Universal to fourth yesterday with $5.8 million off 3,009, down 53% for an eight-day domestic cume of $51.2 million.
Sony-Screen Gems’ PG-13 horror-thriller “The Stepfather” bowed in fifth place with $4.3 million from 2,734.