By JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - The love-struck zombies of "Warm
Bodies" swarmed the box office on Super Bowl weekend with a $20 million
opening.
On a weekend that Hollywood largely punts to
football, the PG-13 film from Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment easily
led the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Super Bowl
always means a significant slide in movie-going on Sunday - studios
predict a decrease of as much as 70 percent from Saturday to Sunday -
but "Warm Bodies" still lured many teenage fans.
The film is about a zombie whose love for a human
redeems him. Lionsgate, which also released the "Twilight" saga, is
calling it a "rom-zom-com" for its mix of humor, romance and the
supernatural. The film appealed particularly to females, who made up 60
percent of the audience.
"They've definitely cracked the code on how to
attract that teen audience with films like 'The Hunger Games,'
'Twilight' and something like 'Warm Bodies,' which definitely plays
right into the sweet spot of that demographic," says Hollywood.com
box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
David Spitz, executive vice president of Lionsgate,
said the studio courted female teens with "Warm Bodies" by pairing its
trailer with the last "Twilight" film, "Breaking Dawn, Part II."
Younger female audiences have some history of
turning out on Super Bowl weekends. The most successful film released
the weekend of the big game was in 2008, when "Hannah Montana and Miley
Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" opened with $31.1 million.
"There was just nothing in the marketplace like
this," said Spitz. "Is it more zombie horror? Is it more romantic
comedy? Is it more comedy? It's a mixture and that's the reason why the
film found an audience."
Action films continued to fare poorly in 2013, as
Sylvester Stallone's "Bullet to the Head" opened with just $4.5 million
for Warner Bros. That meant his brawny cohort Arnold Schwarzenegger
bested him when his "The Last Stand" opened with $7.2 million in
January.
But both openings were poor. Along with the weak
performance of Jason Statham's "Parker," which has taken in $12.4
million in two weeks for FilmDistrict, moviegoers aren't turning out for
traditional R-rated action movies. That trend should reverse itself
when Bruce Willis' "A Good Day to Die Hard" opens Feb. 14, Dergarabedian
said.
Last week's top film, Paramount's "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," dropped to second with $9.2 million on the weekend.
The other debut of note was Lionsgate's "Stand Up
Guys," which stars Al Pacino and Christopher Walken as veteran gangsters
on a last hurrah romp. Though it opened in limited release in 659
theaters, it took in just $1.5 million.
The most Super Bowl-appropriate film in theaters,
the Oscar-nominated "Silver Linings Playbook," continued to add to its
stretched-out run for the Weinstein Co. The film, which centers on a
family of diehard Philadelphia Eagles fans, came in third place, adding
$8.1 million for a cumulative total of $80.4 million.
___
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at
U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where
available, latest international numbers are also included. Final
domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Warm Bodies," $20 million.
2. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $9.2 million, ($15 million international).
3. "Silver Linings Playbook," $8.1 million, ($7.8 million international).
4. "Mama," $6.7 million, ($2.4 million international).
5. "Zero Dark Thirty," $5.3 million, ($3.7 million international).
6. "Bullet to the Head," $4.5 million, ($1.1 million international).
7. "Parker," $3.2 million.
8. "Django Unchained," $3 million, ($30.6 million international).
9. "Les Miserables," $2.4 million, ($12.2 million international).
10. "Lincoln," $2.4 million, ($13 million international).
___
Estimated weekend ticket sales at international
theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas
by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Django Unchained," $30.6 million.
2. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $15 million.
3. "Lincoln," $13 million.
4. "The Berlin File," $12.8 million.
5. "Les Miserables," $12.2 million.
6. "Miracle in Cell No. 7," $11 million.
7. "Life of Pi," $10.1 million.
8. "Flight," $9.2 million.
9. "Silver Linings Playbook," $7.8 million.
10. "Skyfall," $6.7 million.
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