‘This Is It’ Wins Weekend, Falls Short Of Expectations

Your interpretation of this weekend’s box office results depends on your world view.

If you’re a “glass-half-full” kind of person, you’ll look at the $21.3 million “This Is It” pulled in and think that the Michael Jackson rehearsal footage documentary handily won the weekend, making the five-day total of $32.5 million super-sweet. However, if you’re a “glass-half-empty” (or worse) person, you’ll remember that Sony was touting “This Is It” as the all-time concert film extravaganza, looking for weekend numbers of anywhere from $50 million to $250 million worldwide.

Early studio press stating shows of “This Is It” were selling out quickly might have added to the lower-than-expected take, along with the box-office-dampening effect of Halloween falling on a Saturday this year. Regardless, Sony announced an extension of the two-week run of “This Is It,” and pushed back the DVD release to January to appease the ridiculous 90-day window between theatrical runs and home video.

Frightful films “Paranormal Activity” and “Saw VI” stayed in the top five, and “Law Abiding Citizen” continued to bring in viewers through word-of-mouth. “Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” opened on 68 screens in the Northeast and Los Angeles to a respectable $6,784 per-screen-average, good enough for 16th place on the weekend. “Gentlemen Broncos” earned $10,000 on two screens, and will open much wider over the month.

Here’s the top five estimates, courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com:

Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #

1. Michael Jackson’s This Is It (Sony / Columbia)
$21.3 million | 3,481 | $32.5 million | 1

2. Paranormal Activity (Paramount)
$16.5 million | 2,404 | $84.8 million | 6

3. Law Abiding Citizen (Overture Films)
$7.3 million | 2,764 | $51.4 million | 3

4. Couples Retreat (Universal)
$6.1 million | 3,026 | $86.7 million | 4

5. Saw VI (Lionsgate)
$5.6 million | 3,036 | $22.8 million | 2