Saturday Update
|
|
Pixar broke the opening day record for an animated film
with the launch of the much-hyped Toy Story 3
which grossed an estimated $41M on Friday in its first day of release.
It was by far the biggest opening day ever for the Disney-owned animation
studio and edged past the $38.4M first-day tally of 2007's 2D Shrek
the Third which was the previous best for any toon. Factor out
three years of ticket price increases and 3D surcharges and the ogre sequel
still leads in admissions, though.
Still, the latest adventure for Woody the Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear essentially matched the $40.8M opening Friday of the Mouse House's other 3D megahit this year Alice in Wonderland from March which went on to a $116.1M opening weekend and has gone on to bank a stellar $334M to date. Toy Story could be on a similar trajectory to reach $110-120M for the opening weekend period. With incredibly strong reviews, a powerful brand name, and schools about to close for the summer, the road ahead is bright. Pixar toons debuting at this time of year have gone on to reach final tallies of about four times their openings. On the opposite end of the box office spectrum, the comic book actioner Jonah Hex was dead on arrival debuting to an estimated $2M making it the biggest disaster of the summer so far. The weekend take will end in the $5-6M range for Warner Bros. Get earlier box office updates and analysis by following BoxOfficeGuru.com on Twitter. Check the UPDATED chart for the Top June Openings. For a NEW review of Toy Story 3, visit The Chief Report. |
Last Updated: June 19, 2010 at 11:00AM ET
Written by Gitesh Pandya