Box Office: 'Watchmen' easily wins race with $55.6M

Weekend of March 6 – 8, 2009

Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen” stormed the North American box office this weekend with $55.6 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The big-screen adaptation of the celebrated graphic novel scored the widest release ever for an R-rated film, opening at 3,611 locations. The film also collected $4.5 million from midnight screenings early Friday.

Still, “Watchmen” failed to beat Snyder’s last film “300,” which debuted at 3,280 locations two years ago and delivered a $70.8 million opening weekend gross.

At No. 2, Tyler Perry’s “Madea Goes to Jail” collected another $8.8 million, reaching a domestic total of $76.5 million after three weeks in release. The film already passed the $63.2 million total gross of its predecessor, “Madea’s Family Reunion.”

Still going strong in third place was Pierre Morel’s thriller “Taken,” which reached a cumulative gross of $118 million after weekend earnings of $7.4 million. Following at No. 4 was Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” which took home $6.9 million for a total haul of $125.4 million.

Meanwhile, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” climbed back up to No. 5, earning $4.2 million and bringing its domestic total to $133.6 million. Kevin James’ comedy has been pulling big bucks in the top 10 ever since its January 16 release.

Ken Kwapis’ comedy “He’s Just Not That Into” picked up another $4 million this weekend, reaching a cumulative gross of $84.6 million. Henry Selick’s 3D stop-motion adventure “Coraline” followed in seventh place with $3.3 million ($65.6 million total).

At No. 8, “Confessions of a Shopaholic” pulled in $3.1 million for a total gross of $38.2 million after four weeks in release. Dropping seven spots to No. 9 was “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience,” which reached a domestic gross of $16.7 million after weekend earnings of $2.7 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was “Fired Up!,” which brought in $2.6 million and lifted its cumulative gross to $13.3 million after a mediocre three-week run.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)