Giving fans who didn't get the concert ticket the chance to experience the live concert proved to be worth the effort as the 3-D concert film featuring Miley Cyrus became the box office champion.
- Feb 4, 2008
AceShowbiz - Opening only in 683 venues on a normally slow sales on Super Bowl weekend, Disney's "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" proved to be the tweens magnet as it claimed the number one spot of the North American three-day weekend box office. And along the way, it managed to also break the box office record.
According to studio estimation on Sunday, February 3, the 3-D film chronicling Miley Cyrus' recent tour has become the biggest selling film to debut over the Super Bowl weekend as it pulled in $31.1 million. The concert film has outpassed Simon West's "When a Stranger Calls", the previous Super Bowl record holder. Over the same weekend two years ago, the horror thriller starring Camilla Belle successfully opened with $21.6 million earning. The film featuring Cyrus on her concert also tackled down the previous record of the best Super Bowl weekend gross held by "Titanic" which earned $25.2 million in its sixth weekend in 1996.
On the 3-D concert, the president of Disney's motion-picture group Mark Zoradi revealed that the technology allowed the fans to have the illusion of being at a live show. Zoradi, who visited several packed theaters where the movie played said, "The screaming level was unbelievable. It almost plays like a concert. At the end of a song, you have audiences clapping like you do at a concert. Parents who weren't able to get concert tickets, now they were able to take their kids and satisfy that demand, and kids were in a way able to be up close and personal, with the best seats in the house." Further, following the successful run over the weekend, Disney have announced on Sunday that the movie's theater release is extended for two weeks.
Though "Hannah Montana" got great sales, it doesn't mean that the Super Bowl weekend sales this year was different to the previous. The domestic sales has still been dull as the Lionsgate's thriller "The Eye" which landed on the second spot only managed to gather $12.4 million, whereas in the third place Katherine Heigl's romantic comedy "27 Dresses" garnered $8.5 million.
The following three slots saw a tight competition between last week champion "Meet the Spartans", Sylvester Stallone's signature action hero "Rambo" and acclaimed drama comedy "Juno". The three movies brought home $7.5 million, $7.1 million and $7 million respectively. The sales of both the ancient Greek warriors spoof "Spartans" and the action film "Rambo" dropped about 60|percent| in its second week, while "Juno" climbed up three spots from its seventh position last week.
Dropping one spot to the seventh position was "The Bucket List" with $6.7 million. Diane Lane's thriller "Untraceable" followed in the eighth place grossing $5 million. Rounding out the top ten slots were monster movie "Cloverfield" and greedy epic "There Will Be Blood". "Cloverfield" garnered $4.8 million with the cume of $72 million in its third weekend, while "Blood" brought in nearly $4.6 million in its sixth weekend.
In the meantime, New Line Cinema comedy "Over the Dead Body" failed to deliver at the box office. The Eva Longoria-starring film opened outside the top 10 with the earning of just $4 million. Another upsetting opening was the Paramount Vantage's comedy "Strange Wilderness" which debuted with only about $3 million.
