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District 9 tops box office, beams up $37M
The independent sci-fi action drama District 9 upset bigger studio films by coming in atop the Aug. 14 weekend box office, taking in an estimated $37 million, the Associated Press reported.
The movie—which cost only $30 million to make—features an unknown cast headed by the brilliant Sharlto Copley and marks the feature-film directorial debut of South African-born director Neill Blomkamp, who developed the film from his own short movie. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson produced the film with Blomkamp after their previous collaboration, a movie based on the Halo game series, fell apart.
Here's how the rest of the weekend stacked up, the AP reported:
The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Paramount's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, slipped to second place with $22.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $98.8 million.Another sci-fi tale, the Warner Bros. romance The Time Traveler's Wife starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, opened a solid No. 3 with $19.2 million. ...
District 9 and Time Traveler's Wife led a wave of five new wide releases for mid-August, when Hollywood's summer output normally is petering out. The rush continues next weekend with another surge of new releases, led by Quentin Tarantino's World War II saga Inglourious Basterds.
Disney's animated adventure Ponyo from animation master Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), opened in ninth place with $3.5 million.
By MetalPause at 6:51 PM ON 08/16/09
Great news! I loved D9!!!
By AngryJonny at 8:41 PM ON 08/16/09
It was a fantastic movie! Can't wait for the sequel!
By Daumier at 9:45 PM ON 08/16/09
I loved this movie. I want more.
By JasonInMelbourne at 9:57 PM ON 08/16/09
My partner spent a lot of time in South Africa and we both love Sci-fi, so we can't wait to see it.
By Comixfreek at 10:15 PM ON 08/16/09
GREAT movie! Highly suggest you see this on the big screen because there are some amazing visuals effects. Well worth the time and money!
By Alhazred at 11:20 PM ON 08/16/09
I thought it was an awesome movie! It shows U don't need a gazillion $ to make a good sci fi or genre film. Hollywood take note!!
By scubasteve at 1:14 AM ON 08/17/09
To JasonInMelbourne:
Your partner? What, are you guys cops or cowboys?
Oh.... Never mind.
By joesocwork at 9:20 AM ON 08/17/09
Glad to see an intelligent thoughtful piece of science fiction garner both good reviews and good box office.
By joemama at 9:54 AM ON 08/17/09
scuba steve....
what are you an assistant hole?
By terrence68 at 10:36 AM ON 08/17/09
I must be in the minority because I thought this movie was a big turd. It was the worst movie I have ever seen. In fact I wish I had the 2 hours and the $12 that we spent for my wife and I to see it. It was one of the worst movies I ever saw. I was surprised it did so well. About half the people in the theater left before it was over. I only stayed to see if it would get any better. I was really disappointed.
By Tantus at 11:39 AM ON 08/17/09
Loved the movie.
I have to admit that halfway through the movie I thought that this would make a great video game.
By Lordmoon at 12:19 PM ON 08/17/09
Excellent. Even more impressive at the fact that it only had a $30 million budget. The CGI in this flm was far more impressive then Transformers at $200 millioin (which I did enjoy for what's it worth so this is not MB bashing).
The storyline was also fairly unqiue and refreshing. I'd love to see more on this world in the future.
By mkmcgohan at 2:15 PM ON 08/17/09
Not thought provoking, not ground breaking. Old, tired and disgusting. Anyon who liked this movie needs their head examined. Its a total pice of trash.
By Dr. Malcolm Long at 3:27 PM ON 08/17/09
hmm, lots of polarizing going on. I thought it was a good movie, however my hopes for a solid thought-provoking movie didn't come through. While it starts with some great concepts and allegories, prepare for lots of action in the second half. Which was some great CGI work and I can't believe it only cost $30M.
By uNiOn at 5:19 AM ON 08/18/09
This is a great movie! It is a bit slow to begin with but the action at the end was great. I also found it a great commentary on racism and intolerance.
I CANT WAIT FOR A SEQUEL!
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uNiOn:
This is a great movie! It is a bit slow to begin with but the action at the end was great. I also found it a great ...More »