With the advent of "Ice Age" the movie industry is breathing a sigh of relief as things have been dismal for them for the past year. Coming in at a whopping $70.5 million, it is the second biggest animated movie opening ever (tied with the "Incredibles"), second to only "Shrek 2."
The movie has reunited Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo, with the addition of newcomer Queen Latifah, as the voices of the prehistoric characters that are traveling to safety when their homes are threatened to be flooded.
The original "Ice Age" opened to $46.3 million, while the current one broke all openings for March by eclipsing the original.
Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations, a box office analyst, said that "No one had any idea it would do this kind of business, the notion that people don't want to go to the movies is dispelled by something like this," he said. "It proves people will line up for the right movie if given the motivation."
He has it right there. The only problem is that Hollywood has been unwilling to provide the motivation, as they continue on their slippery slope of trying to enculturate, rather than entertain.
Does the word "family" come into mind here? Does something all people can watch together come into their thoughts? We'll see where Hollywood goes from here.
The 20th Century Fox sequel, replaced the "Inside Man" as the number one spot, which came in at number two for the week at $15.7 million, bringing its total to approximately $52.8 million.
Another phenomenol figure here is the overseas market has done fantastic for "Ice Age" also, bringing in $43.4 million, not even including the biggest markets of Germany, Japan and Great Britain.
It has caught everybody off guard in its overall success, which is much higher than expected.
Here are the top ten for the week:
1. "Ice Age: The Meltdown," $70.5 million.
2. "Inside Man," $15.7 million.
3. "ATL," $12.5 million.
4. "Failure to Launch," $6.6 million.
5. "V for Vendetta," $6.5 million.
6. "Stay Alive," $4.58 million.
7. "She's the Man," $4.57 million.
8. "Slither," $3.7 million.
9. "The Shaggy Dog," $3.5 million.
10 (tie). "Basic Instinct 2," $3.2 million.
10 (tie). "Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector," $3.2 million.
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