Doom spelled dollars at the box office as the global-disaster tale 2012 opened at No. 1 domestically with US$65 million and pulled in US$225 million worldwide.
The Sony Pictures action saga tells the story of a scramble to save remnants of humanity aboard giant arks as the earth's crust shifts and flood waters pour over most of the planet. With a cast led by John Cusack, Danny Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor, 2012 was directed by doomsday specialist Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow).
Overseas, 2012 did US$17.2 million in France, US$15.3 million in Russia, US$9.9 million in South Korea and US$8.1 million in Spain.
In the US, 2012 came in just shy of the US$68.7 million opening weekend for The Day After Tomorrow. But Sony reported that its global total was the best ever for an original movie not based on an established franchise, brand or best-selling novel.
"Roland is that type of filmmaker that casts his net really wide," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "The story is something people could really relate to. It's a story of the survival of humanity."
Disney's A Christmas Carol slipped to No. 2 with US$22.3 million, down only 26 percent from its No. 1 opening gross a weekend earlier. The Jim Carrey holiday adventure raised its 10-day total to US$63.3 million.
Big films typically can drop 50 percent or more in the second weekend, but the strong hold for A Christmas Carol indicates it could have a long shelf life through the holidays.
Lionsgate's acclaimed drama Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire broke into the top-10 as it expanded to more theatres after a huge debut in limited release the previous weekend.
Finishing at No. 4, Precious took in US$6.1 million in 174 theatres, averaging US$35,000 a cinema and raising its 10-day total to US$8.9 million. That compared to a US$19,095 average in 3,404 theatres for 2012.
With a cast that includes Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, Precious stars newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as a Harlem teen pulling herself out of an abyss of illiteracy, incest and domestic abuse.
Michael Jackson's This Is It added US$5.1 million domestically to raise its total to US$67.2 million. The Sony release became the all-time top-grossing music documentary, passing the US$65.3 million total of last year's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.
The weekend's other new wide release, Focus Features' rock 'n' roll comedy Pirate Radio, opened a weak No. 11 with US$2.9 million in 882 theatres, averaging US$3,253 a cinema.
The ensemble cast of Pirate Radio features Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh in a story about 1960s disc jockeys blasting illicit rock music into stodgy Britain from an offshore radio station aboard a tanker.
Starting in limited release, Fox Searchlight's animated comedy Fantastic Mr. Fox drew big audiences with US$260,000 in four theatres, for a whopping average of US$65,000 a cinema. The film expands to nationwide release the day before Thanksgiving.
George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray lead the voice cast of Fantastic Mr. Fox, adapted by director Wes Anderson from the Roald Dahl children's book about a poultry-thieving fox and three evil farmers.
Paramount's micro-budgeted horror flick Paranormal Activity pulled in US$4.2 million to cross the US$100 million mark. Shot for just US$15,000, the supernatural tale rode a surge of online buzz to become a horror sensation, with a domestic gross now standing at US$103.8 million.
Despite the big opening for 2012, Hollywood business dipped. Overall revenues came in at US$140 million, down 6 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when the James Bond adventure "Quantum of Solace" led with US$67.5 million.
Still, 2012 was a strong prelude as Hollywood gears up for Thanksgiving, one of the busiest weekends at movie theatres.
"It feels totally like summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "This proves that if you put a summer movie anywhere in the release schedule, you can sometimes get summer numbers."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com (all figures in US dollars).
- 2012, $65 million.
- Disney's A Christmas Carol, $22.3 million.
- The Men Who Stare at Goats, $6.2 million.
- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, $6.1 million.
- Michael Jackson's This Is It, $5.1 million.
- The Fourth Kind, $4.7 million.
- Couples Retreat, $4.3 million.
- Paranormal Activity, $4.2 million.
- Law Abiding Citizen, $3.9 million.
- The Box, $3.2 million.
AP