November 1, 2011 by Vinnie Leduc
Shrek spin-off prequel Puss in Boots opened to great reviews, including ours, and the biggest Halloween weekend debut ever, topping previous record holder Saw III. However, the fairy tale feline’s $34 million is less than half of the opening take of the last Shrek sequel and significantly trails those of DreamWorks Animations’ other recent films as well, including this summer’s Kung Fu Panda 2 and last year’s Megamind.
In fact, it was the lowest opening for the studio’s last nine releases. Puss in Boots‘ relatively modest debut was likely affected by Friday’s Game 7 of the World Series and the Northeast winter storm, so it should enjoy a strong upcoming second weekend, especially against R-rated A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and awful-looking Tower Heist.
Last week‘s record-breaking champ, Paranormal Activity 3, plummeted 66% to the runner-up spot. Justin Timberlake failed in his second attempt (after earlier this year’s Friends With Benefits) to win the domestic box office as a leading man in sci-fi thriller In Time, which opened at third, and Johnny Depp suffered one of his worst openings ever as The Rum Diary couldn’t overtake holdover Footloose. The previous Hunter S. Thompson-based film, cult classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, also starred Depp and opened weakly, so there’s still a chance The Rum Diary will find a more receptive audience later.
Here were the top 5 in the domestic box office last weekend via BOM:
- Puss in Boots — Weekend Gross: $34 million — Total Gross: $34 million (new)
- Paranormal Activity 3 — Weekend Gross: $18.1 million — Total Gross: $80.9 million (#1 last week)
- In Time — Weekend Gross: $12.1 million — Total Gross: $12.1 million (new)
- Footloose — Weekend Gross: $5.5 million — Total Gross: $38.5 million (#3 last week)
- The Rum Diary — Weekend Gross: $5.1 million — Total Gross: $5.1 million (new)
