Box Office: 'Gravity' Sets October Record With $55.6 Million, 'Runner Runner' Disappoints
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Proving that there's no limit to how much George Clooney or Sandra Bullock an audience can take, Alfonso Cuaron's 3D space epic Gravity opened to a record-breaking $55.6 million at the weekend box office, making it the biggest October opening of all-time, and the best three-day showing in both Bullock and Clooney's respective careers.
Coupled with an impressive $27.4 million overseas gross, the film launches with a worldwide total of $83 million. The success of the film represents the product of a considerable marketing campaign on the part of Warner Bros., in addition to the years-long effort by Cuaron to bring his vision to the big screen. The movie cost $100 million, and has made back more than half of its production cost, largely thanks to 3D cinemas, which accounted for $44 million of the film's gross.
"In two days, this movie has become a cultural phenomenon. People that haven't gone to the movies in years, or who only see one or two movies a year, are going to see Gravity," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief.
Gravity took the October record from previous champ Paranormal Activity 3, which grossed $52.6 million in 2011, followed by Jackass 3-D ($50.4 million), Taken 2 ($49.5 million) and Scary Movie 3 ($48.1 million). As for the film's stars, Gravity's box office gross tops Bullock's previous top-opener, this summer's The Heat ($39.1 million), while Clooney's previous record was Batman & Robin ($42.9 million).
Previous #1, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2, fell to second place with $21.5 million, bringing its total gross to $60.5 million.
Meanwhile, third place went to the weekend's other big arrival, gambling thriller Runner Runner, starring Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck. The film, from New Regency and 20th Century Fox, took in a disappointing $7.6 million. The saving grace is the film's reported $30 million budget. Internationally, the movie is likewise doing subdued business, grossing $23.6 million to date from 52 markets for a world total of $31.2 million.
"Considering the movie's cost, we'll be just fine," said Fox senior vice president of distribution Spencer Klein said, referencing the film's reported $30 million budget, which has already been recouped thanks to overseas business. The film has grossed $23.6 million to date from 52 markets internationally, bringing the movie's worldwide total to $31.2 million.
Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, remains strong in week three, landing at #4 with $7.6 million. Meanwhile, Ron Howard's Rush fell to #5 with $4.4 million. This represents a 56 percent drop, settling its North American total at $18.2 million. However, the film is compensating for its poor domestic performance overseas, earning over $30 million over the course of its release window.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut Don Jon also took a substantial drop, falling 54 percent to $4.2 million. The film currently has a domestic total of $15.2 million across two weeks.
Meanwhile, a surprising new entry into the top 10 this week is the romantic comedy Pulling Strings, a low-budget film starring Mexican actor Jaime Camil. The movie placed at #9 with a paltry $2.5 million, a fraction of the $7.8 million opening of the more successful surprise-hit Spanish-language film Instructions Not Included at the end of August. However, this is still a promising start for the underdog film.
You can check out the full top 10 below:
1. Gravity ($55.5 million)
2. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 ($21.5 million)
3. Runner Runner ($7.9 million)
4. Prisoners ($5.7 million)
5. Rush ($4.5 million)
6. Baggage Claim ($4.5 million)
7. Don Jon ($4.2 million)
8. Insidious: Chapter 2 ($3.7 million)
9. Pulling Strings ($2.7 million)
10. Enough Said ($2.1 million)
Via: The Hollywood Reporter / Deadline