Weekend Box Office Has a 'Final Destination' for the Top Spot

The fourth installment of the "Final Destination" franchise claimed the top spot in the weekend battle of horror film sequels, overshadowing "Halloween 2."

"The Final Destination" claimed the top spot over the weekend, beating the Rob Zombie directed sequel "Halloween 2," generating an estimated $28.3 million. The fourth installment was featured in 3-D format on 54% of the screens that the film was showcase. The 3-D format attributed to 70% of the films weekend gross.

"Inglorious Basterds" finished in second over the weekend, relinquishing the films top spot from the previous weekend and taking in an estimated $20 million. The fantasy World War 2 film has accumulated $73.3 million in 10 days of domestic release.

The "Halloween 2" versus "The Final Destination" standoff had been projected to finish in a tight race by most analysts, but ended with a sweeping victory by the "Destination" franchise.

"They got their $17 million, we got our $28 million. That's a lot of business all around," said Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager for Warner Bros.

The "Halloween" sequel grossed nearly half the opening gross of the films predecessor with the $17 million in ticket sales but has already amassed over the films production budget of $15 million. "It's like hitting a single or a double. There are going to be bigger ones like 'Inglourious Basterds,' but for the Weinstein Co., we don't mind having two or three of these a year," said Bob Weinstein when asked about "Halloween 2's" weekend gross.

While box office gross was at an all-time high this summer season, attendance dropped by an estimated 2.2 percent from the previous summer.

Rounding out the top five included "District 9" and "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" with an estimated $10.7 million and $8 million respectively.

WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, AUGUST 28-30, 2009

Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #

1. The Final Destination (Warner Bros. (New Line))
$28.3 million | 3,121 | $28.3 million | 1

2. Inglourious Basterds (Weinstein Company)
$20.0 million | 3,165 | $73.8 million | 2

3. Halloween 2 (2009) (Weinstein / Dimension)
$17.4 million | 3,025 | $17.4 million | 1

4. District 9 (TriStar)
$10.7 million | 3,180 | $90.8 million | 3

5. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount)
$8.0 million | 3,467 | $132.4 million | 4