Box Office: ‘Meatballs’ Soars to Number One

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs soared to the top spot of the box office this weekend bringing in $30.3 million making ‘Meatballs’ the third best September opening ever. This is good news to report after several weeks of poor box office results. With several newcomers challenging each other for box office gold, the animated kids flick easily topped it’s contenders for a number one spot. It certainly helped to have numerous screens showing the movie in 3D which means higher priced tickets. How did the rest of the weekend play out for new films like Jennifer’s Body, The Informant, and Love Happens? Continue reading for a full weekend box office break down.

Coming in at number two was Matt Damon’s comedy drama The Informant. From director Steven Soderbergh, The Informant took in a strong $10 million Friday – Sunday. With a budget of only $22 million, The Informant grossed more than expected this weekend. Look for Damon and Soderbergh’s collaboration to hold up strong the next few weeks.

The number three spot belonged to Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself which dropped 57.9% in week two with a weekend gross of $9.8 million. So far Perry’s latest project has earned $37.7 million.

The romantic pairing of Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston attracted fans to the sum of $8.0 million for Love Happens.

The big news of the weekend is that Jennifer’s Body (#5) completely bombed at the box office. The Megan Fox horror comedy was unable to find an audience to the tune of $6.8 million. Expected to draw about three times that amount Jennifer’s Body is yet another failure for the horror genre after Sorority Row tanked last weekend. Written by Diablo Cody (Juno) Jennifer’s Body received mixed reviews and although the film had a strong marketing campaign it clearly did not appeal to a wide enough market.

Next weekend will bring the sci-fi action film Surrogates starring Bruce Willis. Also the song and dance remake Fame will arrive along with the horror sci-fi movie Pandorum. Is the fall movie season almost over?