US$116mil Tea Party For 'Alice'

MARCH 9, 2010 - Alice in Wonderland had a US$116.1 million tea party over the weekend, shattering records for the time of year. That's more in just three days than the total gross of any other 2010 release. Alice's start made the highest-grossing March weekend ever: overall business boomed 69 percent over the same timeframe last year, when Watchmen debuted.

To hit US$116.1 million out-of-the-gate, Alice in Wonderland benefited from a combination of factors, including the involvement of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, who are among Hollywood's few bankable name talents.

The last two weekends' top movie, Shutter Island, is still strong, collecting US$13.2 million and increasing its total to US$95.8 million in 17 days. As for Avatar, it is still in the Top Five after 12 weeks, never mind if it failed to win major Oscars.

Here is the Top 5 North American B-O grosses for Mar 5-7, 2010 weekend, in terms of rank, Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo.

1. Alice in Wonderland (Buena Vista) $116.1 million ($116.1 million) 1

2. Brooklyn's Finest (Overture Films) $13.3 million ($13.3 million) 1

3. Shutter Island (Paramount) $13.2 million ($95.8 million) 3

4. Cop Out (Warner Bros.) $9.2 million ($32.5 million) 2

5. Avatar (Fox) $8.1 million ($720.6 million) 12