'Contagion' Infects US Weekend B-O

SEPT 12, 2011 - Contagion shot to the top of the North American box office, as one would expect of such a high-profile thriller, while Warrior mustered little support and Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star and Creature ranked among the worst openings ever.

Not quite in the hot zone, Contagion's spread was contained at an estimated US$23.1 million on close to 3,900 screens at 3,222 locations. Among September opening grosses, it ranked 15th, and it was a bit behind last September's top thriller The Town (US$23.8 million). In second place, The Help continued its hearty run, despite taking its steepest hit yet. The book adaptation was down a respectable 40 percent from last weekend's.

Colombiana rounded out the Top Five with an estimated US$4 million (US$29.8 million sum in 17 days), followed closely by Rise of the Planet of the Apes with US$3.9 million (US$167.8 million sum in 38 days). In a minor surprise, Colombiana held a bit better than Apes, dropping 46 percent versus 51 percent.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for Sept 9-11, 2011 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. (-) Contagion (WB) $23.1 million ($23.1 million) 1

2. (1) The Help (Buena Vista) $8.7 million ($137.1 million) 5

3. (-) Warrior (Lionsgate) $5.6 million ($5.6 million) 1

4. (2) The Debt (Focus Features) $4.9 million ($22.0 million) 2

5. (6) Colombiana (TriStar) $4.0 million ($29.8 million) 3