LOS ANGELES – “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” the fourth film in the animated series featuring a woolly mammoth and his prehistoric friends, trampled “The Amazing Spider-Man” and took the top spot at U.S. and Canadian box offices on Sunday with $46 million.
Featuring the voice of comedian Ray Romano as the warm-hearted mammoth Manny and John Leguizamo as Sid the fast-talking sloth, the 3D film’s opening weekend beat forecasts and topped the debut of the most recent movie in the series, 2009′s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” which opened to $42 million.
The biggest opening in the series was 2006′s “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” which grossed $68 million in its first weekend. Overall the animated series, which was produced for Fox by its Blue Sky Studios, has collected $1.9 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to ticket tracking website Box Office Mojo.
“Ice Age” had been projected to gross around $40 million for the weekend, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com’s box office division.
“Spider-Man,” the reboot of the blockbuster series that starred Andrew Garfield as the superhero’s alter ego Peter Parker, collected $35 million over the weekend, after selling $140 million in ticket sales during a six-day run that began with midnight shows the day before the July 4th holiday.
Its cumulative domestic ticket sales after roughly two weeks in theaters now stand at $201 million. Add another $320 million overseas, and worldwide ticket sales total $521 million, easily making it among the year’s top movies.
“Ted” a comedy about a man and his foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear, slipped to third place with domestic sales of $22.1 million from Friday through Sunday. Directed by “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane, the Universal Pictures release has earned $159 million domestically since its June 29 debut and has become a Hollywood summer season surprise.
Disney’s animated fairy tale “Brave” weathered the entrance of the edgier “Ice Age” and landed in the No. 4 spot. The movie about a rebellious, red-haired Scottish princess, produced by Disney’s Pixar unit, grabbed $10.6 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters and has collected $196 million after four weeks.
Another surprise hit, Warner Bros. male stripper film “Magic Mike,” edged out Oliver Stone’s gritty drug drama, “Savages,” to claim the No. 5 spot. “Mike” rang up $9 million in ticket sales to boost its domestic total to $92 million.
“Savages, produced by Universal Pictures, totaled $8.7 million over the weekend, bringing its cumulative sales to $31.5 million after two weeks in theaters.
source: interaksyon.com
