October 7, 2013 by Vinnie Leduc
Alfonso Cuarón’s 3D sci-fi thriller Gravity took down the record for biggest October opening of all time at the domestic box office over the weekend. The how-did-he-do-that space odyssey launched past previous record holder Paranormal Activity 3, Jackass 3D, and last year’s Taken 2. The stellar debut of Gravity was a personal best for both Oscar winners Sandra Bullock (beating this year’s The Heat) and George Clooney (1997’s Batman & Robin), and it also broke into the top 10 IMAX openings of all time at ninth place.
In its first three days, Gravity has already grossed more than holdover Prisoners has after three weekends and nearly as much as the previous weekend’s reigning champ, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, has totaled after two weekends. The abduction drama dropped to fourth place this weekend, while the animated sequel settled for silver. The other new wide release, Runner Runner, trailed Cloudy‘s runner-up spot by a wide margin and flopped into third. Starring Justin Timberlake and future Batman Ben Affleck, the crime thriller had the 15th lowest debut for a movie opening in over 3,000 theaters.
Gravity will try to hold its ground this upcoming weekend against Captain Phillips, an action thriller that depicts 2009’s Maersk Alabama hijacking by Somali pirates, and Machete Kills, Robert Rodriguez’ Grindhouse spin-off sequel.
Here are the numbers for the top five over the weekend via BOM:
- Gravity — Weekend Gross: $55.8 million — Total Gross: $55.8 million (new)
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 — Weekend Gross: $21.0 million — Total Gross: $60.0 million (#1 last week)
- Runner Runner — Weekend Gross: $7.7 million — Total Gross: $7.7 million (new)
- Prisoners — Weekend Gross: $5.7 million — Total Gross: $47.9 million (#2 last week)
- Rush — Weekend Gross: $4.5 million — Total Gross: $18.2 million (#3 last week)
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