As expected, Watchmen‘adapted from the acclaimed DC Comics graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’dominated the weekend box office, raking in $55.7 million dollars its opening weekend.
That number, while high, was far from a record-setter. Director Zack Snyder’s previous comic book movie, 300, opened the same weekend two years ago with $70 million. Watchmen has the sixth-highest R-rated opening ever.
The IMAX screenings of Watchmen drew in 10 percent of the gross, earning about $5.5 million on 124 screens.
Overseas, Variety reports Watchmen took in $27.5 million on just over 5,000 screens in 45 territories, giving it a worldwide weekend gross of $83.2 million.
With no other major releases this weekend, holdovers all saw business drop. Second-place finisher Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail earned $8.8 milliion, with Taken in third at $7.5 million and Oscar Best Picture winner Slumdog MIllionaire in fourth with $6.9 million.
Focus Features’ stop-motion animation film Coraline held on to the No. 7 spot with $3.3 million in receipts, bringing its cumulative gross to $65.7 million in one full month of release.
