Columbia TriStar’s remake of Evil Dead was propelled by a wave of positive reviews and promises of excessive gore to a strong opening day at the North American box office. Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park 3D also opening strong in second place, while last weekend’s champ G.I. Joe: Retaliation slipped to third.
Evil Dead bowed at 3,025 locations to the tune of $11.9 million during its first 24 hours of release. With a production budget estimated at only $17 million, the remake of Sam Raimi’s classic with Raimi and Bruce Campbell serving as producers will easily top $20 million through Sunday, which also happens to be more than the previous three Evil Dead films made at the box office combined during their theatrical runs. Somewhere between $25 and $30 million seems a safe bet for Evil Dead’s opening weekend.
Jurassic Park 3D drummed up $7 in million in business on Friday and could reach $20 million for the weekend. Ticket surcharges for 3D presentations are certainly help pad its numbers as Evil Dead doesn’t share the same luxury.
Read our Jurassic Park 3D review.
Paramount’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation slid to third with $6.4 million, though could pass Jurassic Park 3D by Sunday if dino business backs off. Thus far the sequel has earned $71.9 million domestically and a cool $153.2 million worldwide.
Read our G.I. Joe: Retaliation review.
The Croods had the highest location count at over 3,800 but only climbed as high as fourth place with $6 million on Friday. The arrival of Jurassic Park 3D likely had something to do with that, but Fox isn’t complaining with the cumulative gross hitting $110.7 million and climbing.
Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor wrapped up the top five Friday with $3.4 million. With only $31.8 million through eight days, expect Temptation to make a quick exit from the top ten and speed off to Blu-ray and DVD.
Stop back tomorrow to see how close to $30 million Evil Dead was able to get, and whether the Joes were able to catch Jurassic Park 3D for second place.
