Woody Harrelson marked the biggest opening of his career at the U.S. box office as “Zombieland” stormed theaters with weekend ticket sales of $ 25 million, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
The game ended two weeks of the field of children’s comedy “cloudy with a chance of meatballs” which slipped to No. 2 with $ 16.7 million? Both films were released by Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Corp.
Another four new entered the top-10. A 3-D reissue of the cartoons of Pixar’s “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2,” debuted at No. 3 with $ 12.5 million. Version is designed to stoke the anticipation of the June 2010 arrival of “Toy Story 3″.
British comedian Ricky Gervais ’ “The Invention of Lying”, followed by a modest $ 7.4 million, ahead of Bruce Willis’ “surrogates”, which is in its second weekend. Classification could change when final data are released on Monday.
Two entries tied at No. 7: directing debut of Drew Barrymore, “Whip It”, and documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” said some 4.9 million dollars in tickets sold.
“Capitalism” has played in nearly twice as many theaters as “Whip It”, which should open in the high-single-digit in front of millions of comedy Gervais.
“Zombieland”, supported by good reviews and buzz in advance, has found its modest production budget.
Harrelson, who rose to fame in the sitcom “Cheers,” stars as a zombie killer Gung-Ho, who joins an obsessive-compulsive nerd, played by Jesse Eisenberg, during an outbreak of zombies around the world. It marks the debut of director Ruben Fleischer.
“It is an action-driven road trip buddy comedy, and the icing on the cake is that it takes into zombies,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution of Columbia.
Harrelson has kept a low profile at the box office in recent years, lives in Hawaii with his wife and daughters and promoting the legalization of marijuana. His openness is the best so far 18 million dollars was the debut of “Indecent Proposal” in 1993.
“Toy Story / Toy Story 2″ was released by Walt Disney Pictures, a division of Walt Disney Co. “The invention of the Lie,” was published by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc.
“Capitalism: A Love Story” was released by Overture Films, a division of Liberty Media Corp. “Whip It” was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.
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