Jason Slashes Weekend Box Office Competition

[comedyfreak]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to watch college kids get slaughtered in a remake of " Friday the 13th "?

The revival of the venerable slasher franchise easily took the No. 1 spot at the North American box office this weekend, setting a new record for a horror opening with estimated sales of $42.2 million, distributor Warner Bros . Pictures said on Sunday.

The old mark was held by " The Grudge " with a $39 million debut in 2004. That film had a less-restrictive PG-13 rating, while the R rating for "Friday the 13th" ostensibly prevented fans under age 17 from buying tickets unless accompanied by an adult.

The new film is essentially a remake of the 1980 film that kicked off the horror series and eventually introduced a hockey-masked villain named Jason. His most recent appearance, in 2003's "Freddy vs. Jason," generated a $36.4 million opening.

Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc , predicted "Friday the 13th" would end up in the $48 million range once sales for the U.S. Presidents Day holiday on Monday were calculated.

The film was directed by German filmmaker Marcus Nispel , who shot the hit 2004 retread of " The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ." Both films were produced by "Transformers" director Michael Bay , whose Platinum Dunes banner specializes in low-budget horror remakes.

Also new this weekend were Walt Disney Co's Isla Fisher comedy " Confessions of a Shopaholic " at No. 4 with a modest $15.4 million, and Columbia Pictures' Clive Owen thriller "The International" at No. 7 with $10 million.

Columbia, a unit of Sony Corp , also had a disappointment last weekend with " The Pink Panther 2 " ($22 million to date). But the studio's surprise hit comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" crashed through the century mark, tallying $110.5 million after an $11.7 million weekend.

Last weekend's champion, Warner Bros.' ensemble romance " He's Just Not That Into You ," slipped to No. 2 with $19.6 million, taking its 10-day tally to $55.1 million. The comedy, based on a self-help book that was itself inspired by the TV show "Sex and the City," revolves around the lives and loves of various couples. The A-list lineup includes Jennifer Aniston , Drew Barrymore , Ben Affleck and Scarlett Johansson .

The thriller "Taken" fell one place to No. 3 with $19.3 million in its third weekend. Liam Neeson plays a father in a race against time to prevent his kidnapped teen daughter's virginity from being taken by an Arab sheikh. The surprise success, produced by French filmmaker Luc Besson , has earned $77.9 million to date, and should hit $120 million, said distributor 20th Century Fox , a unit of News Corp .

Weekend Box Office Estimates (U.S.)
This Wk Last Wk Title Dist. Weekend Gross Cumulative
Gross Rlse
Wks # of
Theaters
2 1 He's Just Not That Into You Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $19,610,000 $55,078,000 2 3175
3 2 Taken 20th Century Fox Distribution $19,250,000 $77,925,000 3 3109
4 - Confessions of a Shopaholic Buena Vista Pictures Distribution $15,406,000 $15,406,000 1 2507
5 3 Coraline Focus Features, Universal Pictures International (UPI) $15,323,000 $35,585,000 2 2320
6 5 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony Pictures Releasing $11,700,000 $110,515,000 5 2965
7 - The International Sony Pictures Releasing $10,000,000 $10,000,000 1 2364
8 4 The Pink Panther 2 Sony Pictures Releasing $9,000,000 $22,321,000 2 3245
9 7 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight Pictures $7,150,000 $86,546,000 14 1634
10 6 Push Summit Entertainment, LLC $6,931,000 $19,325,000 2 2313
11 8 Gran Torino Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $6,750,000 $128,893,000 10 2303
12 9 The Uninvited Paramount Pictures $4,762,000 $24,128,000 3 1803

[Cactus Jack]

With all these box office records this year so far, I think we're gonna have another Dark Knight this year