Puss in Boots beats Tower Heist to retain US box office top spot
Story by Jack Foley
SHREK spin-off Puss in Boots had a weekend that was close to purr-fection as it pulled off an unlikely box office shock to beat Brett Ratner’s Tower Heist to the top spot in its second week of release.
The animated family comedy took a further $33 million in its second weekend – a drop of just 3 per cent from its $34.1 million debut – while the Ben Stiller-Eddie Murphy action comedy opened to a ‘disappointing’ $25.1 million.
Puss in Boots‘ continued success validated the decision by DreamWorks Animation and Paramount to release the film early in the US, ahead of a clutch of family movies geared towards the start of the holiday season.
In its first weekend, the film set a new Halloween record despite stormy weather on the East Coast that executives felt had diminished its box office returns.
That claim proved to be true as audiences once again flocked to the movie.
DreamWorks Animation’s Anne Globe was delighted when she pointed out: “To have a hold at this level is extraordinary.”
Tower Heist‘s underwhelming performance will be seen as a blow for Universal and Ratner, even though the studio is putting a brave face on it by insisting that it fell within pre-weekend expectations for a $25 million to $30 million start. It cost an estimated $85 million to make.
Another new disappointment was A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, which debuted to $13.1 million, well behind the $18 million that was projected.
Those three films formed the top three in the US, with Paranormal Activity 3 and In Time rounding out the top five.
Next story: Rupert Wyatt and Michael Fassbender linked to Litvinenko movie