'Tron' Shines, 'Yogi' Bear-ish

Tron: Legacy, the long-gestating sequel to Tron, opened with a strong $43.6 million debut.  That's nearly 10 times what the original film opened with 28 years ago, where it ultimately grossed $33 million (in 1982 dollars, of course).  Of course, Tron: Legacy's production budget is significantly larger than what the original film's was, as well.  The new film cost $170 million versus the original's $17 million budget (again, in 1982 dollars, of course).  All things being equal, with the holiday season, international grosses and home video and ancillary revenues, Tron: Legacy should have no issue turning a profit.

Yogi Bear opened in second place with a soft $16.7 million debut.  Awful reviews, terrible word-of-mouth, high ticket prices and a tired franchise kept audiences away from the $80 million-budgeted computer animated/live-action CGI film.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader fell two spots to third place in its second weekend, dropping 48% to $12.4 million.  With $42.8 million in grosses to date, Dawn Treader will be relying heavily on international grosses to get it into the black.  The returns for Dawn Treader do not bode well for any further films in the franchise (at least in the short term).

The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg, expanded to 2,500 screens this weekend, and climbed to fourth place at the box office chart.  With $12.2 million, the $25-million budgeted film should continue to hold well going into the awards season.  It's per-screen average gross was actually better than Yogi Bear.

Finally, The Tourist fell from second to fifth place in it second weekend.  The $100 million-budgeted Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie action film pulled in $8.7 million after a 47% drop.  The film has grossed $30.8 million, and can be considered nothing but a flop for the two high profile stars.