Weekend Box Office: Audiences Drift Towards "Ice Age"

With what seems to be an “indian summer” in our midst, it's no surprise that Ice Age: Continental Drift took the top spot at the box office.The film grossed $46 million this weekend, with comparable numbers to the third movie in the series. It didn't open as strongly as Brave or Madagascar: Europe's Most Wanted, but a sequel is probably going to happen sometime in the future. Ice Age is an established, family-friendly franchise. It continues to be profitable, especially overseas, where the seemingly immortal prehistoric buddies do remarkably well—it has already scored over $300 million overseas. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary have all returned to contribute their voices, while Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj and Keke Palmer play new characters. The film is about Manny, the mammoth voiced by Romano, trying to come to terms with his daughter Peaches', played by Palmer, coming-of-age. Hijinks ensue. Critics have been easy on the film, though the consensus is that it's a mild outing in what really is a mild franchise. I would think 2012 might inspire a more apocalyptic Ice Age, where the characters finally come to terms with their mortality and looming deaths. Wouldn't that be an awesome movie to end the series? Oscar material that is.

The Amazing Spider-Man fell to number two, adding another $35 million to it's $200.9 million domestic total. The domestic revenue hasn't been as good as the foreign box office, where the reboot has made $320.5 million. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy is still ahead of it number-wise. Ted is still doing good business with an estimated $22.1 million this weekend, bring the gross to $159 million. The budget for Ted was only $50 million, so perhaps a sequel is in the works? Brave finally made it's budget back with another $10.7 million made this weekend. The Pixar film has yet to break into the triple digits in the international market, thus becoming Pixar's worst overseas earner. Magic Mike took in $9 million this weekend, coming in at number 5.

Savages, the newest Oliver Stone flick, is a confirmed flop. The movie cost $45 million to make, but has only made $31.5 million in the box office. Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection brought $5.6 million. The concert film Katy Perry: Part of Me, despite a weak start, made $3.7 million this week. It has been doing solidly during the week. Moonrise Kingdom and Madagascar 3 round out the top ten; both are still performing well at the box office.

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