The Box-Office Top Five
#1 "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" ($30.1 million)
#2 "The Informant!" ($10.5 million)
#3 "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself" ($10.1 million)
#4 "Love Happens" ($8.5 million)
#5 "Jennifer's Body" ($6.8 million)
"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" enjoyed a delicious first-place finish for its opening weekend at the box office. The Sony Pictures Animation film — currently the company's third and most widely regarded animated feature by critics and moviegoers alike — earned $30.1 million, solidifying its status as the highest opening weekend take for any film in September this year.
Additionally, the success of "Meatballs" lands the movie way out in front of "9," the Focus Features computer-animated film that premiered last weekend and depicts a world where humanity is extinct and nine living dolls are left to save the day. Unsurprisingly, parents have opted to bring their kids to "Meatballs," which is considerably more family-friendly than the Shane Acker-directed apocalypse.
The weekend's other releases fared considerably worse than the Bill Hader-starring computer-animated movie, with Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant!" the closest at $10.5 million. Based on actual events, the film showcases a decidedly different turn from actor Matt Damon, not only because he typically churns out money-raking flicks, but also because of his role as a bumbling everyman in the film, something that fans of his "Bourne" franchise are not used to seeing.
The second- and third-place finishes for "The Informant!" and "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself," which snagged the weekend's bronze medal at $10 million, are surprising considering their competition. All being equal, the two films should have fallen behind the Jennifer Aniston/Aaron Eckhart-starring "Love Happens," a romantic comedy that had all the star power needed to match earlier summer successes like "The Proposal" but only managed an unimpressive fourth place opening at $8.5 million.
Even worse is the outcome for "Jennifer's Body," the Megan Fox thriller written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. "Body" only managed $6.8 million in 2,702 theaters despite being the second-widest release of the weekend behind the 3,119 theaters showing "Meatballs." What this result means for both Fox and Cody, two of Hollywood's hottest prospects thanks to "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Juno," respectively, remains to be seen.
Upcoming Releases
Next weekend, comic-book movie "Surrogates," starring Bruce Willis, aims to do better business than the poorly received "Whiteout" adaptation earlier this year. Several other newcomers join the thriller, including the musically minded "Fame," horror film "Pandorum" and "The Other Man," starring Liam Neeson.
Check out everything we've got on "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,""The Informant!" and "Jennifer's Body."
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