District 9 sends GI Joe back to the bunker at this weekend’s box office.
Wonder if Universal regrets shutting down Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp’s Halo movie now? Jackson was originally set to produce and Blomkamp direct a big-budget, big-screen version of Xbox’s hit video game, but plans were scuttled due to budget concerns. Instead, the Lord of the Rings mastermind suggested that the young director adapt one of his short films into a full-length feature. The result is District 9, which electrified audiences at Comic-Con last month and also impressed critics. And now the film is the number one movie in the land, opening to a robust $37 million gross, trumping last week’s champ, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. That feature length toy commercial still finished a strong second though, almost crossing the $100 million line. Third and fourth place went to more quieter fare–the romantic drama The Time Traveler’s Wife and the cooking flick Julie & Julia, featuring Meryl Streep as master chef Julia Childs.
The week’s other two new releases struggled to find viewers in the crowded marketplace. The Jeremy Piven comedy The Goods (directed by a former Chappelle’s Show staff member) drummed up only $5.3 million for a sixth place finish and Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature Ponyo just sqeaked into the Top Ten with $3.5 million. The good news is that Ponyo is still only in limited release, so families could still discover this little gem.
A full box-office recap is below courtesy of the-numbers.com. Next week, Quentin Tarantino looks to make a big splash with his World War II action drama Inglorious Basterds and former Gilmore Girl Alexis Bledel goes for big-screen stardom in Post Grad.
The Top Ten: August 14-16, 2009
1. District 9: $37
2. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra: $22.5/$98.7
3. The Time Traveler’s Wife: $19.2
4. Julie & Julia: $12.4/$43.6
5. G-Force: $6.9/$99
6. The Goods: $5.3/
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $5.1/$283.9
8. The Ugly Truth: $4.5/$77.5
9. Ponyo: $3.5
10. (500) Days of Summer: $3/$17.9
