"He's Just Not That Into You Soars" With $27 Million Opening; "Pink Panther 2" fizzles

Tue. February 10, 2009; Posted: 08:50 AM

(RTTNews) - With a per theater average of $8,650, romantic comedy "He's Just Not That Into You" was easily the weekend's number one draw, pulling in a studio estimated $27.47 million overall. However, while "He's Not That Into You" met expectations, "The Pink Panther 2" struggled to reach its demographic and was just the second biggest family draw of the weekend, getting beat by "Coraline" despite playing at nearly 1,000 more theaters.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend, however, was the exceptionally strong second weekend numbers of thriller "Taken." Despite direct competition from new release "Push," "Taken" earned $20.30 million, which is a dip of only 17.9% from its opening weekend totals. "Taken" has earned an impressive $53.36 million in its first ten days in theaters and continues to have a very high per theater average. Though thriller "The International" should compete with "Taken" for audiences next weekend, "Taken" should maintain a high amount of screenings and continue to be a box office factor for a few more weekends.

With the successful "The Pink Panther" release back in 2006, expectations were high for the opening weekend of its sequel "The Pink Panther 2," with Steve Martin again returning to the lead role. Considering "Pink Panther 2" was receiving the widest release of the weekend, it was expected to control the family demographic and push past $20 million for the weekend; "The Pink Panther" earned $20.22 million over its opening weekend in February of 2006.

Unfortunately for distributor Sony/Columbia, animated feature "Coraline" caught on with audiences as it made more than $7,000 per venue and a studio estimated $16.35 million overall. "Pink Panther 2" managed a meager $3,700 per theater and $12 million in total, which was barely enough to slide into the top five. However, with only adult-geared releases on the schedule for next weekend, "Pink Panther 2" might be able to have one more effective weekend, though it's very unlikely that it will be able to reach Sony/Columbia's aspirations.

The other new release that hit theaters was the thriller "Push," distributed by Summit Entertainment. With a $10.20 million weekend intake and $4,412 per theater average, "Push" was only a moderate success. As "Taken" continues to do well with thrill-seeking audiences and the Clive Owen thriller "The International" set for its opening this Friday, "Push" will likely struggle maintaining an audience. Still, with an intake of more than $10 million, "Push" has the second biggest opening in Summit Entertainment's short history. If "Push" doesn't completely plummet in the following couple of weeks, it should be able to overtake the $24.85 million domestic total of "Never Back Down" to become the second highest grossing Summit Entertainment release; only the $187.74 million domestic total of mega-hit "Twilight" will be out of reach.

Next weekend there are three wide releases slated to open across the country. The most promising release looks to be "Confessions of a Shopaholic," which will compete for date audiences with the successful "He's Just Not That Into You." Remake "Friday the 13th" also creeps into theaters and is expected to be the only release to reach more than 3,000 theaters. "The International," starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, also will hit theaters and should bring a fair amount of competition for both "Taken" and "Push."

Though there should be some very profitable releases over the next few weeks, there won't likely be another bona fide blockbuster until the early March release of "Watchmen." Following in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus, "Jonas Brothers: The 3-D concert experience" should also see strong numbers when it is released over the last weekend in February.

Early Studio Box Office Estimates For 2/6 - 2/8 (In Millions): [RTT Estimate]

1) He's Just Not That Into You (Warner Brothers/New Line): $27.47 [$27]

2) Taken (FOX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating): $20.30 [$12]

3) Coraline (Focus Features): $16.35 [$10]

4) The Pink Panther 2 (Sony/Columbia): $12 [$21]

5) Paul Blart: Mall Cop (SONY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating): $11 [$8.5]

6) Push (Summit Entertainment): $10.20 [$13]

7) Gran Torino (Warner Brothers): $7.42 [$5]

8) Slumdog Millionaire (FoxSearchlight): $7.40 [$5.5]

9) The Uninvited (Paramount/Dreamworks): $6.40 [$5.2]

10) Hotel for Dogs (Paramount/Dreamworks): $5.28 [N/A]

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