In one of the most astounding weekends since the summer, two movies opened and far exceeded all expectations, predictions and studio tracking as Will Smith opened his latest sci-fi action flick I Am Legend (Warner Bros.) in December with an estimated gross of $76.5 million in regular and IMAX theatres, an average of over $21,000 per theater, setting a new opening record for Smith as well as the new record for December. Even more surprising might be the success of Alvin and the Chipmunks (Fox) in finding a huge family audience to the tune of $45 million, becoming one of the top 8 openers for the month of December as well.
I did not expect Legend to beat The Golden Compass - but It was not even a contest. I have yet to see this film, but plan to do so; I love post apocalyptic movies and try my best to watch as many as possible. This is a great news day for Will Smith, it has been a dry $pell for films as of late, and he helmed this ship to a land of bounty. One thing is now true, Will Smith is a more bankable star in the post apocalyptic genre than Kevin Costner. We must however, give props to Costner for loving the genre enough to make Waterworld and The Postman. What we need is a Kevin Costner post apocalyptic production, starring Will Smith - make it so!
The word on the street is that Alvin And The Chipmunks is a big bag of shit. I really liked the cartoon as a youngster and personally plan to avoid this film. I appreciate Jason Lee and the Chipmunks too much to watch them destroy their reputations in one fell swop. With a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 25% I do not think I will give this one the benefit of the doubt. The commercials for this film were terrible to me, I am honestly surprised that this film made so much cash. Then again, I liked the Chipmunks as a kid, perhaps their appeal is just as strong with this generation. When the children want to see something, the parents have to go; the nag factor wins again.
User comment: By: Robert S.I'm not surprised at the success of I Am Legend, as Will Smith tends to be pretty solid in most all of his roles. As far as Alvin and the Chipmunks, as a father I can tell you that with the limited number of movies that you can (with good conscience) take a kid to, we jump at movies like this. It's not that they are artistic masterpieces or anything, but the time that we can spend together in a movie theater, not cringing at the content, is worth the price of admission. And that's even at today's ticket prices.
User comment: By: AlI'm not surprise to see Alvin and the Chipmunks making bank at the box office. I don't why but people are willing to pay to see old cartoon characters brought back to life in live action. Remember Garfield and Scooby Do? The movie suck but people still went out and see it. With the success of Alvin and the Chipmunks, it would only mean a sequel is on its way. (sigh)
User comment: By: Seth GrimesI think I Am Legend deserved this type of opening.Good for Will.The guy's(In my opinion)a great acter,and this will make his already bankable persona all the more popular.
User comment: By: dougnagyFor opening weekend cash I did not expect Legend to win. If you asked me a month ago, I probably would have thought that compass would still be on top this weekend. I am very bad at guessing how much a movie will make. More often than not I over/under estimate. I assume the world will buy tickets according to my preferences; this is not usually the case.
Visit here to subscribe to these commentsUser comment: By: JamesYou didn't expect I Am Legend to beat The Golden Compass. This surprises me, Compass was pretty much DOA after last week.
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