Titans clash the box office (Apr.2-4)

Clash of the Titans debuts to a solid $61.2 million sporting the highest Easter opening ever as well as helping this weekend become number one when it comes to Easter holidays.

Maybe it wasn’t as much as Warner might have hopped with the last minute added 3D fluff (that people say is horrible) and a budget between $125 and $150 million not counting marketing, but none the less, $61.2 million is a good debut if we overlook the fact that in 2007, a movie called 300 (and the reason Clash got a green light from the studio) managed to open with over $70 million without 3D and on a tighter budget. Clash of the Titans is the kind of movie that tends to be very frontloaded so I expect a beefy drop next weekend for what could lead to a total of $140-$160 million in North America.

Tyler Perry shows yet again that he has box office success in the blood with his latest, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? opening to $29.2 million on a $20 million budget no less. There’s a lot of money to be made with the Tyler Perry brand and I’m wondering why there aren’t other studios (except Lionsgate) jumping on this opportunity.

How to Train Your Dragon managed a decent 33.7% drop for a $29 million second weekend that brings this movie to a total of $92.1 million, still well behind last year’s Monsters vs Aliens at the same point in time ($104.7 million in 10 days). Monday numbers, $5.2 million (affected by Easter but still), show that Dragon might have good to very good legs at the box office in the following weeks so I’m hoping that it makes enough for DreamWorks to green light a sequel. This is one movie that deserves a franchise.

The Last Song, another Nicholas Sparks novel adapted for the big screen, made $16 million over the weekend and another $9.3 million on Wednesday and Thursday for a 5-day total of $25.3 million. Not on the same level as Dear John just two months ago, but still a very strong debut that has Disney star Miley Cyrus finally stepping out of the Hannah Montana shoes to flex her muscles at the box office.

And finally in 5th place we have Alice in Wonderland, $8.2 million after loosing most of the 3D screens it had left. With $309.7 million in North America and close to $700 million worldwide, this is a massive hit for Disney. We had Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and now Alice in Wonderland, what’s next, I’m betting on Wizard of Oz?

Here’s the rest of the top 10:

1. Clash of the Titans (WB) $61.2M ($63.8M)
2. Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? (LGF) $29.2M (NEW)
3. How to Train Your Dragon (P/DW) $29M ($92.1M)
4. The Last Song (BV) $16M ($25.3M)
5. Alice in Wonderland (BV) $8.2M ($309.7M)
6. Hot Tub Time Machine (MGM) $8M ($27.9M)
7. The Bounty Hunter (Sony) $6M ($48.8M)
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Fox) $5.3M ($46M)
9. She’s Out of My League (Par) $1.5M ($28.7M)
10. Shutter Island (Par) $1.4M ($123.4M)