Sony scored with its sixth number-one opener of the year with Zombieland at $9.4 million, and was second with the holdover “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” which earned $3.7 million.
Starring Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, “Zombieland” is the tale of guys who battle the undead en route to a zombie-free Hollywood theme park. Playing at 3,036 theaters, the comedy horror picture earned an A Cinemascore among all audiences under 35, and is the biggest opening day for Harrelson among his solo outings. Budgeted at $23.6 million, “Zombieland” could make its negative cost back in full by Sunday.
“Meatballs” continued to have a wonderful hold, dipping 34% at 2,977 sites and moving its domestic cume to $69.4 million.
Disney’s 3-D double feature rerelease of “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” bowed in third with $3.2 million off 1,745.
Warner’s Ricky Gervais comedy “The Invention of Lying” featuring Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey and Rob Lowe bested studio expectations on Friday with $2.5 million off 1,707. 67% of the audience for “Invention” on opening day were over 30. Not only did “Invention” outdo the first day of Gervais’ previous comedy “Ghost Town” ($1.5 million) from last fall.
Fox Searchlight’s Drew Barrymore directing debut “Whip It” bowed in sixth with $1.6 million. Overture’s expansion of Michael Moore’s documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” jumped to seventh after its limited run with an estimated $1.5 million off 962. The current figure for “Capitalism” stands at $1.9 million.
Disney’s “Surrogates” went down 56% in fifth place during its second Friday, but still fared better than the new competition with $2.2 million off 2,951. The eight-day cumulative figure for the Bruce Willis sci-fi actioner is $21.2 million.
