Box Office: 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' rules

Weekend of September 18 – 20, 2009: ‘Cloudy’ delivers while ‘Jennifer’s Body’ disappoints

Sony Pictures Animation’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” stormed the North American box office this weekend with a solid $30.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Playing in both 3D and standard format, Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s animated adventure scored an average of $9,651 per theater at 3,119 locations. The film follows an inventor who faces the consequences of his latest invention: a device that converts water into food.

Debuting in second place with a decent three-day gross of $10.5 million was Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!,” which stars Matt Damon as an exec helping the FBI uncover his company’s price-fixing scheme. The film is showing at 2,505 locations.

Still doing well despite a significant drop was Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” which generated another $10 million at No. 3 for a domestic gross of $37.9 million after a little more than a week in release.

Following in fourth place this weekend was new entry “Love Happens,” which earned $8.4 million from ticket sales at 1,898 locations. In the Brandon Camp-directed drama, Aaron Eckhart plays a self-help author falling for a florist (Jennifer Aniston).

Fox delivered a rather disappointing start for “Jennifer’s Body,” which opened at 2,702 locations Friday but only pulled $6.8 million. Scripted by Diablo Cody, the film stars Megan Fox as a high school hottie finding great pleasure in eating boys.

Meanwhile, Shane Acker’s “9” slipped to No. 6 with a weekend gross of $5.4 million and a total haul of $22.7 million. Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” followed in seventh place, taking home $3.6 million for a cume of $109.9 million.

At the bottom of the top 10, Sandra Bullock’s disastrous comedy “All About Steve” picked up another $3.4 million, enough for No. 8. The film’s total gross currently stands at $26.6 million.

Summit Entertainment’s horror flick “Sorority Row” dropped to No. 9, collecting $2.4 million for a total gross of $8.8 million after only one week in release. Finally, “The Final Destination” landed at No. 10 with weekend earnings of $2.3 million and a total of $62.3 million.

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