Texas Chainsaw 3D won the weekend box office with $23 million in ticket sales – Photo: Lionsgate
Texas Chainsaw 3D topped the weekend box office at #1 after taking in $23 million to beat both Django Unchained and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
One of the first debuts of 2013, Texas Chainsaw 3D was a surprise winner at the weekend box office with $23 million in ticket sales after taking $10.2 million on Friday. With such higher profile films at the box office as Django Unchained, The Hobbit, and Les Miserables, executives at Lionsgate were surprised by the final Texas Chainsaw 3D tally.
“Going to into the weekend we weren’t expecting to finish first,” said Richie Fay, president of distribution at Lionsgate, to the NY Daily News.
As for how Texas Chainsaw 3D beat the other movies, the horror film got a boost from higher ticket prices for its release in 3D.
Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained continued to perform well and finished in second place with $20 million. Django crossed the $100 million mark after only 11 days in theatres since its Christmas Day debut.
Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey fell to third place with $17.5 million after holding the #1 spot at the box office for the previous three weekends. The Hobbit increased its domestic total to $263.8 million.
Director Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables took the fourth spot with $16.1 million. The highly acclaimed musical has now earned over $100 million at the North American box office since Christmas Day.