‘Wall-E,’ ‘Wanted’ wow box office
From Variety:
Pixar and Disney’s endearing “Wall-E” and Universal’s Angelina Jolie-James McAvoy actioner “Wanted” made for another boffo weekend at the summer box office as overall revenues for the year moved ahead of 2007 for the first time in months.
The critically acclaimed “Wall-E,” directed by Andrew Stanton, easily won the weekend, grossing an estimated $62.5 million from 3,992 runs. The R-rated “Wanted” rocketed past expectations, grossing an estimated $51.1 million from 3,175.
Each made the record books.
“Wall-E” was anything but robotic, scoring the second best June opening of all time, after “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” ($94.7 million). Opening is the third highest among the nine Pixar films after “The Incredibles” ($70.5 million) and “Finding Nemo” ($70.2 million). And at $23.1 million, toon scored the biggest opening-day gross of any Pixar title, reflecting the fact that kids were out of school and free to hit theaters on Friday.
“Wanted” scored the best opening ever for an R-rated film released in June and the sixth best of all time for any R-rated pic. Film, also starring Morgan Freeman, placed No. 2 for the weekend and played well across ethnic groups. U said it’s already eyeing a sequel.
Filmgoers Wild For ‘Wall-E’ And ‘Wanted’
Sources tell me that very early North American box office numbers show that Disney / Pixar’s Wall-E took in $23M Friday from 3,992 theaters for what should be high $60sM opening weekend including the Saturday matinee bump. This means Wall-E is big, but maybe not the biggest Pixar (which was The Incredibles at $70.5M). Disney is looking for a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the pic, possible with 100% great reviews from top critics and even rival studios bigwigs gushing about the pic: “It’s just adorable and smart and interesting. It has more character development and emotion than any movie I’ve seen this year.” In the No. 2 place, Universal’s Angelina Jolie/James McAvoy starrer Wanted debuted to $18.5M Friday from 3,175 venues for what should be a bigger than expected $50+M weekend. (The studio only expected $35+M.) “In terms of comps, that would be an extraordinary result for an R-rated summer action movie,” a source tells me. - from Nikki