Weekend Box Office: 3D Retribution fell short

The top two movies this weekend were both 3D releases and both fell short of the mark. Resident Evil: Retribution (3D) opened at No. 1 but its $21 million payday is down versus the $26 million debut of Resident Evil: Afterlife (the prior franchise installment). Disney’s 3D re-release of Finding Nemo swam home—in 3D—with $17 million while it was hoping for a similar re-launch like The Lion King had…to the tune of $30 million!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Arbitrage- Despite only opening in 200 theaters, Richard Gere’s much discussed and critically acclaimed film only missed the top 10 by two spots. The Master- AKA ‘The Scientologist’ (the movie rumored to be about L. Ron Hubbard) opened on just 5 screens, but saw nearly $750,000 in sales. The artsy Paul Thomas Anderson film is getting lots of award-season-buz, but wide release of this film may not do as well because…well…it’s out there. But isn’t that what is to be expected—considering the subject matter? Luckily, it has a kick-a$$ cast including Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix (back from retirement).

Below are the Top 5 box office performers this weekend:

1-  Resident Evil: Retribution (3D)* busted through the box office and took $21 million in its opening weekend.

2- Finding Nemo (3D)*  found $17 million in its first weekend out.

3- The Possession lured in another $5.8 million (earning $41 million for its 3-week total).

4- Lawless snatched $4 million (bringing the bad boys’ total up to $30 million during its first 3-weeks).

5-  ParaNorman just made the top 5 ($3.039 million) slightly edging out The Expendables 2 ($3.030 million). However, The Expendables 2 has nothing to worry about when its comes to ParaNorman; it has nearly doubled the 5-week total earnings of ParaNorman‘s ($80 mill vs. $49 mill).