mhg83

1. "Think Like a Man" (Sony): Opened with $33 million.

2. "The Lucky One" (Warner Bros./Village Roadshow): Opened with $22.8 million. $3.8 million overseas in 9 foreign markets.

3. "The Hunger Games" (Lionsgate): $14.5 million on its fifth weekend, down 31%. Domestic total: $356.9 million. $13 million overseas in 60 foreign markets. International total: $215.8 million.

4. "Chimpanzee" (Disney): Opened with $10.2 million.

5. "The Three Stooges" (Fox): $9.2 million on its second weekend, down 46%. Domestic total: $29.4 million.

6. "The Cabin in the Woods" (Lionsgate/MGM): $7.8 million on its second weekend, down 47%. Domestic total: $27 million.

7. "American Reunion" (Universal/Relativity): $5.2 million on its third weekend, down 50%. Domestic total: $48.3 million. $9.5 million overseas in 37 foreign markets. International total: $56 million.

8. "Titanic 3-D" (Paramount/Fox): $5 million on its third weekend, down 58%. Domestic total: $52.8 million. $34.3 million overseas in 70 foreign markets. International total: $225.7 million.

9. "21 Jump Street" (Sony/MGM): $4.6 million on its sixth weekend, down 30%. Domestic total: $127.1 million. $3.1 million overseas in 23 foreign markets. International total: $39.5 million.

10. "Mirror Mirror" (Relativity): $4.1 million on its fourth weekend, down 40%. Domestic total: $55.2 million.]

The relationship comedy "Think Like a Man" wooed moviegoers away from "The Hunger Games" at the box office this weekend, marking the first time in four weeks the teen blockbuster hasn't come in at No. 1.

The ensemble comedy about five ethnically diverse couples raked in a surprisingly strong $33 million, according to an estimate from distributor Sony Pictures. Heading into the weekend, the PG-13 film was expected to be in a tight race for No. 1 with the romantic tear-jerker "The Lucky One," which came in around industry projections with $22.8 million. The nature documentary "Chimpanzee" also had a good weekend, scoring the highest debut yet for Walt Disney Studios' Disneynature label with $10.2 million.

Moviegoers who saw "Think Like a Man" -- a largely female crowd, 62% of whom were 30 or older -- loved the film, assigning it an average grade of A, according to market research firm CinemaScore. While the film targeted an African American audience, it is unclear how the movie played with different races this weekend because Sony has historically not provided an ethnic breakdown as part of the demographics it releases for its films.

The strong opening for "Think Like a Man," based on a relationship advice book by Steve Harvey, is good news for Sony's Screen Gems label, which spent only about $13 million to produce the film. Screen Gems -- which makes mostly low-budget horror, action and teen comedies -- has had a good year at the box office. "Think Like a Man" marks the studio's third No. 1 film in 2012, following the romantic drama "The Vow" and the vampire action flick "Underworld: Awakening."

The movie made nearly as much in its opening weekend as last year's comedy "Jumping the Broom," which featured an African American cast and ultimately collected $37 million. Its opening was also higher than a number of Tyler Perry's recent films, including the comedies "Madea's Big Happy Family" and "Why Did I Get Married Too?" Both debuted with under $30 million.

"The Lucky One's" Zac Efron, meanwhile, has been trying to shed his teen pinup image as he attempts to become a serious leading man. The weekend results for his latest film indicate he may be making some ground with that endeavor, considering his last weepy drama "Charlie St. Cloud" opened only with $12.4 million in 2010.

Still, it was Efron's female fan base who turned up to see the Nicholas Sparks adaptation this weekend, as an overwhelming 76% of the audience for the film was female. Roughly 56% of the crowd -- who gave the movie a CinemaScore of B+ -- said the biggest reason they went to see the film was because of the 24-year-old heartthrob.

Based on a Sparks novel about a soldier on a mission to track down a woman he feels helped protect him during wartime, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow made "The Lucky One" for about $25 million. The film's debut was the second-highest ever for Sparks, whose "Dear John" started off with $30.5 million in 2010 and ended up becoming his biggest hit ever with a total of $80 million.

"Chimpanzee," which shows four years in the life of a baby chimp and his family, was made by Disneynature -- the division that generates inexpensive documentaries about wildlife and the environment. "Chimpanzee" was the first of the label's four films to crack the $10-million mark in its opening weekend at the box office, beating the $8.8 million debut of "Earth" in 2009.

About 61% of those who saw the film this weekend were families, and the audience loved the documentary, giving it an A CinemaScore. As it does with many of its nature films, Disney pre-sold tickets to a number of groups and schools interested in seeing the film. On Friday alone, group sales receipts accounted for $365,000.

[Updated, 12:31 p.m. April 22: Overseas, "Titanic 3-D" continues to dominate the international box office. The updated version of James Cameron's 1997 classic sold $34.3 million worth of tickets abroad this weekend, raising its total outside of the U.S. and Canada to an impressive $225.7 million.
Meanwhile, "Battleship" crossed the $100 million milestone abroad. Playing in 50 foreign countries, the film about a naval fleet who battle aliens collected an additional $58.4 million, raising its total abroad to $129.6 million. The movie starring Taylor Kitsch debuted in Russia this weekend, where it raked in $10.7 million and was the No. 1 film. But in China, "Battleship" fell behind "Titanic 3-D," despite its strong opening of $17 million in the country. The movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet has already made $105 million in China.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ente...ws+%26+Buzz%29

Solid Snake

Never even heard of Think Like a Man...also...a movie about black people and it's #1 at the box office? Hell has indeed frozen over. Never thought I'd see that.

Also....how well do those Disney nature films do overall?

fumanstan

Have you totally ignored the existence of all those Tyler Perry movies?

riley_dude

Sad that people aren't giving Cabin in the Woods a chance.

The Bus

Solid Snake

yeah..but were they ever #1? If they were...I've obviously overlooked them on the BO sheets

Hokeyboy

^Many, many times.

Solid Snake

well fuck me silly...

Goat3001

It was always destined to be a cult hit. Still, I'm hoping word of mouth will keep this around awhile.

Supermallet

But not with a black cock. USA #1!

mhg83

Think Like A Man was based on the Steve Harvey book so you can add book fans into the equation and the trailer does look like it's a fun comedy. I'd see this one over any Tyler Perry film.

Thrush

Solid Snake

I meant in the now.

PenguinJoe

Hispanics and blacks are are the two biggest growing demographics in America and will one day out number whites.

Tom Creo

Does anybody have theater numbers for Think Like a Man? The wife and I was gonna see it this weekend but it was not playing in our city.

Man, Titanic is the gift that keeps on giving to Cameron and the studios. Does it have a chance at beating Avatar or is the 3-D total a seperate film? When the movie first came out, it was a Duo studio release, 20th Century Fox and Paramount, I believe. One got the Domestic gross, the other, the international one. Is that the case for the 3-D version as well?

Hokeyboy

"Well... what are you gonna do about it, Whitey??"

Philzilla

does that include white Hispanics?

Matthew Chmiel

1. 2,015 theaters with 2,600 screens.

2. Domestic? No. Internationally? Maybe, depending if it performs as well as it does in China as elsewhere.

Mr. Cinema

Battleship earned another $58.4 million overseas this past weekend. International total is now $129.6 million.

Tom Creo

Thanks Matthew. Too lazy to look for the answers. Pretty good numbers for Think with it being under 3,000 screens.

d2cheer

Yea kicking some ass over there that is for sure...

Also you should update your countdown unless you haven't seen Black Swan yet.

Ash Ketchum

Does this mean THREE STOOGES and CABIN IN THE WOODS are flops?

clckworang

I'm wondering, too, if word of mouth might keep it around. I haven't seen it, but I know a few people who have and they have been very vocal about how much they like it. Not to say that there aren't people who didn't like it, but pretty much all of the feedback I've heard has been very positive. Of course, I think most horror movies make most of their money on opening weekend, so that might not bode well for it.

I was curious about this with Titanic as well. Its international numbers could lift it above Avatar.

resinrats

Watch Cameron re-release Avatar a few months before Avatar 2 & it regains the title if Titanic takes it. Cameron in a BO race with himself. LOL

RichC2

Both are new-ish, both had around $30m budgets, so no, neither is a flop.