Narnia overrules box office despite weak start
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The third installment on the "Nania" franchise has managed to prevail at the weekend box office derby although it has mustered a weaker start compared with another debut -- "The Tourist" starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.
The Fox fantasy-adventure film, "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn," is estimated to take in 24.1 million U.S. dollars in ticket receipts in movie theaters in Canada and the United States over the three-day weekend. However, it only fetched 8.2 million dollars when it premiered on some 6,500 screens at 3, 555 locations, a performance paled compared with Sony/Columbia's " The Tourist," which reaped 6.1 million dollars on around 3,400 screens at 2,756 locations. However, due to great word of mouth, the latest "Narnia" installment made a strong showing and eventually rose to the top of the box office.
The film is the latest adapted from C. S. Lewis' epic fantasy series and is the first Narnia film to have a 3D release -- in Digital 3D and RealD 3D formats. The film depicts how two younger Pevensies and their cousin Eustace Scrubb join the new King of Narnia, Caspian, in his quest to rescue seven lost lords to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island.
"The Tourist," a remake of the 2005 French film "Anthony Zimmer, " opened in second place, with a projected 17 million dollars business. Fifty-five percent of tickets for the thriller film were bought by females, Sony said.
However, the film is negatively received by critics, who blamed the film's slow, muddled plot, or the lack of chemistry between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.
Disney's Rapunzel reprise, "Tangled," is third with 14.6 million dollars in ticket stubs for a total of 115.6 million dollars for three weeks.
Rounding out the top 10 most popular films in North America box office are:
-- No.4: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," Warner Bros., 8.5 million dollars this weekend, 257.7 million dollars over four weeks;
-- No.5: "Unstoppable," Fox, 3.8 million dollars this weekend, 74.2 million dollars over five weeks;
-- No.6: "Black Swan," Fox Searchlight, 3.3 million dollars this weekend, 5.6 million dollars over two weeks;
-- No.7: "Burlesque," Sony/Screen Gems, 3.2 million dollars this weekend, 32.6 million dollars over three weeks;
-- No.8: "Love And Other Drugs," Fox, 3 million dollars this weekend, 27.6 million dollars over three weeks;
-- No.9: "Due Date," Warner Bros., 2.5 million dollars this weekend, 94.9 million dollars over six weeks; and
-- No.10: "Megamind," Paramount/Dreamworks, 2.5 million dollars this weekend, 140.2 million dollars over six weeks.
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