'Beowulf' opens to 3-D box office record
November 19, 2007

3-D animation was put to the test when Beowulf landed on screens across North America on Friday night, and much to the joy of director Robert Zemeckis, the re-telling of the classic Old English poem not only earned critical praise for its visual appeal, Beowulf managed to take top spot at this week's box office. However, while Beowulf did rake in $28.1 million in the U.S. and Canada, the total take was almost exactly in line with industry expectations, instead of far beyond them.

Beowulf seemed to be a big draw in the 3-D world, as those theatres able to support the format pulled in nearly twice as much per screen as compared with regular theatres. With its overall take of $28.1 million, Paramount Pictures have found success with their animated tale of the hero Beowulf, who must slay generations of evil as it wreaks havoc on his kingdom. Not only did the film make money, but it has given a high-profile to the 740 3-D theatres that showed the movie in its full 3-D format. Rob Moore, Paramount's president of worldwide marketing and distribution, told the LA Times, "This will do great work in terms of convincing exhibitors that they should be investing in 3-D technology."

Released as a PG-13 film, Beowulf became the widest release of a 3-D film to date, and with no other 3-D films slated for release until 2008, it looks as though Beowulf will top the genre for some time. This week, though, Beowulf managed to top last week's front runners, Bee Movie and American Gangster, which fell to second and third respectively. Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie took home $14.3 million this week to bump its total to $93.8 million in total. American Gangster managed to snag $13.2 million, allowing the film to crack the $100 million mark this year. Fourth at the box office was Fred Claus, which brought in $12 million to boost its total to $35 million.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium debuted this week in the fifth spot, with a total take barely over $10 million. While not a stellar debut, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium was still the second-highest debut of the weekend. The only other new film to make the top ten this week - and barely - was Love in the Time of Cholera, which didn't manage to secure even $2 million in its opening week. Meanwhile, Dan in Real Life kept sixth spot, No Country For Old Men rose to 7th spot with its increase in theatres, Lions For Lambs sank to eighth place, and Saw IV stuck around in the ninth spot, taking in $2.3 million this week.

Next, week, the big competition for Beowulf is likely to come from one of two films. Director Xavier Gens has brought the video game Hitman to the big screen, with Timothy Olyphant and Dougray Scott starring. On the horror front, Frank Darabont has adapted yet another Stephen King film to bring The Mist to the big screen, starring Thomas Jane. The battle for top spot at next week's box office will be more furious than usual.