STUDIOS WRANGLE OVER WHICH MOVIE FINISHED IN FIRST PLACE

In what appeared to be one of the tightest box-office finishes in memory, Date Night claimed to be the weekend winner Sunday with an estimated $27.1 million. But, according to the unofficial studio figures, the second week of Clash of the Titans was right behind with $26.88 million, while the third week of How to Train Your Dragon headed for home with about $25.3 million. The figures are based on actual ticket sales for Friday and Saturday and projections for Sunday, and, in an usual aftermath, at least three studios intimated that the figure for Date Night had been inflated. And, in her Deadline Hollywood blog, Nikki Finke, citing early Sunday results from the rival studios, said that it was likely that Clash of the Titans would wind up on top with about $27 million, while Date Night would finish with $25.5 million. Nevertheless, all three films were likely to end up at the high-end of analysts’ forecasts. There was also a tight race for the fourth spot, with the Tyler Perry movie Why Did I Get Married Too? taking in $11 million, dropping a steep 63 percent from its debut a week a week ago, while the Miley Cyrus romcom The Last Song apparently came in at $10 million, a comparatively modest drop of $37 million from its debut last week. And once again demonstrating the strength of Christian-themed movies, Letters to God managed to debut in the top ten with $1.12 million, despite being limited to just 895 theaters.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo:

1. Date Night, $27.1 million; 2. Clash of the Titans, $26.875 million; 3. How to Train Your Dragon, $25.35 million; 4. Why Did I Get Married Too?, $11 million; 5. The Last Song, $10 million; 6. Alice in Wonderland, $5.6 million; 7. Hot Tub Time Machine, $5.43 million; 8. The Bounty Hunter, $4.3 million; 9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, $4.1: 10. Letters to God, $1.12 million.

UPDATE: Final figures did indeed put Clash of the Titans on top with $26,633,209, edging out Date Night with $25,207,599 — nearly $2 million below Fox’s estimate — and How to Train Your Dragon with $24,863,535.