Resident Evil: Retribution starring Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez, and Pixar’s Finding Nemo 3D, helped resuscitate the box office on Friday from last weekend’s atrocious outing. Even so, box office business is down roughly 25% from the same weekend a year ago when 3D was pulling in bigger numbers.
The fifth Resident Evil film put up the second lowest opening day total for the franchise with $8.4 million in business. Only the original Resident Evil, which also starred Jovovich, was lower with $6.8 million. Resident Evil: Retribution is expected to finish the weekend somewhere in the low $20 million range which would, again, only put it ahead of Resident Evil. The next lowest opening is 2004’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse with $23 million.
Pixar and Disney’s Finding Nemo returned to theaters with a new 3D presentation and found some additional dollars to add to the film’s already impressive worldwide box office gross. It brought in a hair over $5 million and secured a second place finish on Friday.
That’s the good news. The bad news is Finding Nemo put up the lowest 3D re-release opening day yet despite debuting at the most locations – approximately 2,900. The next lowest is Disney’s Beauty and the Beast with $5.6 million. Clearly audiences aren’t as enthralled with 3D re-releases as they once were. The Lion King earned nearly $9 million its re-release opening day almost exactly a year ago.
Last weekend’s champ The Possession dropped 37 percent in its third weekend of release to snag third place with $1.82 million. With $37.2 million in the bank, The Possession stands a strong chance at topping $50 million before exiting theaters and heading to Blu-ray and DVD.
Check back tomorrow to see if Resident Evil: Retribution could top Resident Evil: Apocalypse in its opening weekend.
