DreamWorks Animation's latest 3-D animated film, Megamind, got off to a stellar start in a weekend that saw three new wide releases post good numbers.
Megamind opened with a stellar $47.6 million, great numbers for a family film in the early part of November. The film wasn't cheap to produce, with a budget estimated north of $130 million, but family films tend to do well through the holiday season. Audience reaction to the film is also very strong, with a great CinemaScore rating. As long as Megamind can hold on to its screens, DreamWorks shouldn't have a problem recouping their investment.
Second place went to Warner Bros' Due Date, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. The latest film from director Todd Phillips (Old School, The Hangover) opened with $33.5 million measured against a production budget of $65 million. The film has also been scoring well with audiences, boding well for continued high grosses over the weeks to come.
Another newcomer took the third spot this weekend, Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls. Perry's latest film continued to showcase his modus operandi, with the $21 million-budgeted film opening with $20.1 million in grosses. Perry has a knack for taking small to mid-budgeted films and delivering good numbers by targeting audiences that are ignored by more mainstream fare.
In fourth place, Red continued its soft landing, falling 17% in its fourth weekend with $8.9 million in grosses. The Bruce Willis-Helen Mirren-Morgan Freeman pairing has brought in $71.9 million in grosses domestically, and another $14 million internationally. As it continues to open overseas, the film should become very profitable for distributor Summit Entertainment.
Finally, Saw 3D fell 64% from its first place perch to fifth in its second weekend. The film brought in another $8.2 million, for $38.8 million in grosses so far. While the film will be profitable, its likely that distributor Lionsgate Films will stick to their guns and not make another film in the Saw series for a while. The franchise has obviously worn out its welcome with audiences in releasing seven films in seven years.