February 6, 2012 by Vinnie Leduc
Last weekend’s Super Bowl wasn’t the only close match. While the New York Giants and New England Patriots helped make the annual NFL championship game the most watched TV event in U.S. history for the third straight year, the domestic box office showdown was narrowly being decided in the weekend’s final hours. Low-budget Chronicle‘s battle in Seattle debuted just inches above and way above fellow openers The Woman in Black and Big Miracle, respectively.
Continuing the success of recent releases centered around found footage, Chronicle bumped last week’s champ, survival thriller The Grey, to third place. Daniel Radcliffe’s first post-Potter endeavor, horror film The Woman in Black was less than a couple million behind Chronicle but claimed the best opening in studio CSB Films’ two-year history.
The domestic box office enjoyed a strong weekend that surprised many industry experts. Up 38% from last year’s Super Bowl weekend, last weekend was the first time ever that two movies both opened above $20 million. Meanwhile, MediaStinger’s Movie of the Year 2011, David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remake, crossed the $100 million mark domestically and the $200 million mark worldwide.
Here were the top five in the domestic box office last weekend via BOM:
- Chronicle — Weekend Gross: $22 million — Total Gross: $22 million (new)
- The Woman in Black — Weekend Gross: $20.8 million — Total Gross: $20.8 million (new)
- The Grey — Weekend Gross: $9.3 million — Total Gross: $34.6 million (#1 last week)
- Big Miracle — Weekend Gross: $7.8 million — Total Gross: $7.8 million (new)
- Underworld: Awakening — Weekend Gross: $5.5 million — Total Gross: $54.3 million (#2 last week)
