District 9 Box Office Even Higher Than Expected

Robert Dougherty
District 9 box office was being very closely watched, as District 9 box office would be the final test in whether the hype paid off. District 9 box office expectations went higher with each passing day and rave review, and now the actual District 9 box office may just deliver. Heading into the weekend, District 9 was expected to be the clear cut box office winner. But with the first District 9 box office reports today, the movie may make back its budget and more in its opening weekend.

According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, District 9 had a first day box office total of $13 million, exceeding even the highest expectations. District 9 box office was expected to be in the high $20 million mark to end the weekend, but now it could go up to $30 million plus.

That would be all the more noteworthy since District 9 cost $30 million to mark, despite all the elaborate special effects and aliens. The District 9 box office on opening weekend could surpass that, with projections now as high as $34 million.

With District 9 now coasting to an opening weekend box office win, the true test will be on whether it has staying power. The last few number one movies have tumbled significantly in subsequent weeks, most notably Bruno, Funny People and perhaps even last week's champion, G.I. Joe.

For District 9 box office, a stable place on top of the box office would solidify its word-of-mouth strength. It was word-of-mouth that put the movie on everyone's radar after the first trailer, and after its smash success at Comic Con. Now, District 9's box office future will depend on how many go back and watch it again - and many might do so to catch things they missed the first time.

The early weeks of summer had several movies that opened big at the box office and stayed strong due to positive buzz, like Star Trek, The Hangover and Up. District 9 may have that same luck as one of the last major releases of the summer, with only Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds set to pose a challenge next week.

Aside from the District 9 box office success story, the romantic drama The Time Travelers Wife is finding a niche for itself, opening with an estimated $7.5 million on Friday. The Time Travelers Wife may top out at around $22 million, while last week's top movies, G.I. Joe and Julie & Julia settle into third and fourth place.

Unlike District 9, word-of-mouth is starting to take its toll on the Real American Heroes, as they head for an over 50% downfall in their second week.

Sources

Deadline Hollywood Daily- "ALIEN NATION! Peter Jackson's Low-Cost 'District 9' Opens #1 With $13M Friday And $34M Weekend" www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/first-word-on-this-weekends-box-office/

Published by Robert Dougherty

Author of a trilogy of Lost books, concluding with "Lost: It Only Ends Once" now available at Amazon and iUniverse. Readers can now go to my Yahoo Sports section to see the majority of my new stories....   View profile

2 Comments

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  • chrizzo 8/16/2009

    harry potter and the order of the phoenix will end at 300mio box office. it's not the biggest success in the usa this year ... but behind transformers it it!!! ;-)
    but worldwide it's the highest box office - bomb this year!

  • Will 8/15/2009

    it's actually more like $14.2 million for Friday...

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