Revisiting a classic Dr. Seuss tale paid off for 20th Century Fox Animation as its CG version of Horton Hears a Who! easily claimed the top spot at the North American box office. The family flick raked in an estimated $45.1 million over the weekend, knocking Warner Bros.’ CG-laden 10,000 B.C. down a notch to second place. Holding onto more of its audience than expected, the $100 million prehistoric adventure movie earned approximately $16.4 million to bring its two-week gross to a respectable $61.2 million (est.).
While it certainly benefited from a robust marketing campaign and pervasive talk-show shilling by voice cast members including Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell and Carol Burnett, Horton also got a passing grade from the majority critics. The film’s opening gross fell just shy of that of Ice Age, which opened to $46.3 million in March of 2002. Whether or not Horton goes on to gross $383 million worldwide, it does serve to whet appetites for the upcoming Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. A teaser trailer for the film, which is slated to open in July of 2009, debuted with the Seussical feature. See the official website at www.iceagemovie.com.
Debuting at No. 3 this week was Summit Ent.’s mixed martial arts actioner, Never Back Down. The fight flick earned an estimated $8.6 million to rise above Disney’s College Road Trip, which slipped two notches to No. 4 with $7.8 million in its second week. Rounding out the top five is Sony/Columbia’s political thriller Vantage Point, adding another $5.4 million to bring its domestic cume to around $59.2 million.
One newcomer that didn’t fare so well is Universal/Rogue Pictures’ Doomsday, the latest genre offering from promising director Neil Marshall (The Descent, Dog Soldiers). The R-rated, post-apocalyptic action film earned just $4.7 million, opening in seventh place despite the number of young males out on spring break. Serving up PG-13 violence, Never Back Down roped a much bigger chunk of the target demographic.
