Zombieland rises to the top with $25 million

By Adam Shapiro

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 10/04/09 – Rising from the dead as they typically do, zombies rose to the top of the North American box office chart this time around. According to studio estimates, Columbia Pictures’ “Zombieland” opened as the No.1 movie with $25 million in ticket sales and gave star, Woody Harrelson, the biggest opening of his career.

Bolstered by rave reviews, the film won over a whopping 89% of critics on RottenTomatoes.com, and strong word-of-mouth, the zombie comedy, about a band of humans fighting legions of undead and taking a road trip to a supposedly zombie-free amusement park, ended the two-week reign of Columbia Pictures’ “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” The animated children’s comedy fell to No. 2 but still earned $16.7 million to bring its total to $82.4 million over three weekends. It was a one-two punch for Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.

The success of “Zombieland,” which also featured Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone, was attributed to its blend of gory action and comedy according to Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. “It’s an action-driven road-trip buddy comedy, and the icing on the cake is that it’s got zombies in it,” said Bruer.

Besides “Zombieland” and “Cloudy with a “Chance of Meatballs,” audiences had a wide selection of movies to see this weekend, with four other new releases landing in the top 10. Coming in at No.3 was Disney-Pixar’s limited run reissue of a “Toy Story/Toy Story 2” double feature in 3-D with $12.5 million. The minor gamble paid off well and looks to generate an advanced buzz for the release of “Toy Story 3,” due next summer.

Two other comedies opened this weekend with less than stellar returns. Ricky Gervais, star of the UK version of “The Office,” marked his directorial debut with the release of Warner Bros.’ “The Invention of Lying.” The film, which tells the story of the only man who is able to lie in an alternate world where everyone speaks the truth, came in at No. 4 with a slightly disappointing $7.4 million. Even though this opening was better than his last movie, Spyglass Entertainment’s “Ghost Town,” more was expected considering the film also starred Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill and Jeffrey Tambor. At least the movie beat out Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut. Her roller-derby film, Fox Searchlight Pictures’ “Whip It!” weakly rolled into the No.6 spot with $4.9 million.

Tying for sixth place was Michael Moore’s latest documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story,” which expanded nationwide after a week in limited release. The Overture Films opening beat his previous film, 2007’s “Sicko,” which earned $3.6 million in its semi-wide release but fell way short of the $23.9 million 2004 opening of “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

Overall, Hollywood revenues came in at $113.4 million, down 4 percent from the same weekend last year.

1. Zombieland (Sony / Columbia)
   $25.0 million | 3,036 | $25.0 million | 1

   2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony / Columbia)
   $16.7 million | 2,977 | $82.4 million | 3

   3. Toy Story / Toy Story 2 (3D) (Buena Vista)
   $12.5 million | 1,745 | $12.5 million | 1

   4. The Invention of Lying (Warner Bros.)
   $7.4 million | 1,707 | $7.4 million | 1

   5. Surrogates (Buena Vista)
   $7.3 million | 2,951 | $26.4 million | 2