‘Obsessed' Is Top Weekend Film With $29 Million in Ticket Sales
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By Michael White
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- The drama "Obsessed" opened as the weekend's top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in $28.5 million in ticket sales for Sony Corp.
The film, starring Beyonce Knowles, was one of four opening this weekend. Among the others, Viacom Inc.'s "The Soloist," featuring Robert Downey Jr., was fourth with $9.72 million, researcher Media By Numbers LLC said today in an e-mailed statement.
Sales for "Obsessed" provided a boost to Sony, ranked fourth in 2009 sales with $307.1 million through today, according to Box Office Mojo LLC, another industry researcher. The film is the second from the studio to open in first place this year. The other was "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," a comedy that has taken in $144.7 million since it opened on Jan. 16.
Last week's No. 1 film, "17 Again" fell to second with $11.7 million, as the teen comedy from Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. starring Zac Efron saw its sales decline by more than half.
"Fighting," with "Step Up" star Channing Tatum playing a small-town youth who is drawn to an illegal bare-knuckle boxing circuit after moving to New York City, was third with $11.4 million for Viacom's Paramount.
In "Obsessed," Knowles plays a woman whose marriage is threatened by a woman hired as a temp in her husband's office. Ali Larter and Idris Elba, from the HBO series "The Wire," co- star. The film was projected to generate about $17 million, the estimate of Gitesh Pandya, editor of Box Office Guru LLC.
Homeless Violinist
"The Soloist" is based on the real-life friendship between Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and a homeless violinist portrayed by Jamie Foxx. The film from Viacom's Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks SKG was forecast by Pandya to take in about $8 million.
"Earth," Walt Disney Co.'s film documenting the lives of polar bears, elephants and whales, had sales of $8.55 million, finishing fifth. The film narrated by James Earl Jones was expected to have sales of about $5 million, according to Pandya. Steve Mason, an analyst for Big Hollywood.com, estimated $13.2 million. The movie is from the producers of the BBC series "Planet Earth."
Last Updated: April 26, 2009 12:58 EDT
