Halle Berry’s new big screen effort “The Call” shocked Hollywood, according to Deadline.com’s Nikki Finke, by opening in 2nd place over the weekend with $6.2M for Friday box office and $6.8M Saturday for a $17.1M first weekend.
“Huge credit to Halle and all her hard work,” stated. Sony, the film’s distributor.
Finke writes:
Grosses are coming in higher than expected by Sony. The film was produced for mere mid-teens. That said, its plot was a lot like 2004’s “Cellular “starring Kim Basinger and Chris Evans only with the roles reversed. This time, kidnap victim Abigail Breslin is young and veteran 911 operator Berry is tracking her down.
Naturally Sony’s media campaign targeted females as well as the African American audience. TV ads ran on crime/thriller shows but also “The Bachelor” and “Army Wives” while Berry pulled out all the talk show stops.
The campaign began early with a teaser trailer on Yahoo in January. There also was an online game called “You Make the Call” which put users in the 911 operator’s chair. Brad Anderson (The Machinist) directed the screenplay written by Richard D’Ovidio.
No. 1 in the marketplace was Disney’s $218M holdover “Oz The Great And Powerful,” while New Line’s “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” tanked at No. 3.
This weekend’s total moviegoing is in the neighborhood of $103M – about even withlast year’s. Here’s the Top Five based on weekend estimates:
1. Oz The Great and Powerful (Disney) Week 2 [Runs 3,912] PG
Friday $11.4M, Saturday $18.2M, Weekend $42.2M (-46.6%), Cume $145.0M
2. The Call (Troika/TriStar/Sony) NEW [Runs 2,507] R
Friday $6.2M, Saturday $6.8M, Weekend $17.1M
3. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (Warner Bros) NEW [Runs 3,160] PG13
Friday $3.7M, Saturday $4.1M, Weekend $10.3M
4. Jack The Giant Slayer (Warner Bros) Week 3 [Runs 3,357] PG13
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.8M, Weekend $6.3M, Cume $54.0M
5. Identity Thief (Universal) Week 6 [Runs 2,842] R
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.0M, Weekend $4.5M, Cume $123.70M
