November 6, 2011 by Vinnie Leduc
DreamWorks Animation’s decision to release Shrek spin-off prequel Puss in Boots one week early paid off this weekend as the feline family film remained atop the domestic box office with $33 million, an amazingly tiny 3% decrease from its record-breaking debut.
After enjoying the biggest Halloween weekend opening ever, the fairy tale flick had an extremely strong holdover rate that broke the record for smallest drop ever in a non-holiday weekend for a movie playing in over 2,500 theaters. This can partially be attributed to last weekend’s numbers-lowering obstacles that kept moviegoers at home, like Game 7 of the World Series and the early winter storm that hit the Northeast.
New releases Tower Heist ($25.1 million) and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas ($13.1 million) nabbed the next two spots, but the Brett Ratner comedy, starring a cast led by Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, is a long way from recouping its $85 million budget, while the stoner comedy threequel, starring that Indian guy who used to work for Dr. House and Obama and the Asian guy who explained what a MILF was in American Pie, will probably have already made back its $19 million budget by next week.
Holdovers Paranormal Activity 3, which should cross the $100 million mark by the next week or so, and In Time rounded out the top 5.
Here were the top 5 in the domestic box office last weekend via BOM:
- Puss in Boots — Weekend Gross: $33 million — Total Gross: $75.5 million (#1 last week)
- Tower Heist — Weekend Gross: $25.1 million — Total Gross: $25.1 million (new)
- A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas — Weekend Gross: $13.1 million — Total Gross: $13.1 million (new)
- Paranormal Activity 3 — Weekend Gross: $8.5 million — Total Gross: $95.3 million (#2 last week)
- In Time — Weekend Gross: $7.7 million — Total Gross: $24.2 million (#3 last week)
