“THE KARATE KID” DECKS “THE A-TEAM”

The Karate Kid became the black-belt champ at the box office this weekend as it debuted with an estimated $56 million, far exceeding analysts’ predictions of $30-35 million. “I’m drooling into the phone right now — just totally, totally thrilled,” Sony’s distribution chief, Rory Bruer, told today’s (Monday) New York Times. The movie was almost singlehandedly responsible for lifting the overall box-office gross around 10 percent above the year-ago take for the same weekend and 20 percent above last weekend’s figure. On the other hand, The A-Team took it on the chin, premiering with $26 million, a figure at the low end of expectations and troubling for a film estimated to have cost around $110 million to produce. After leading the pack the previous three weeks, Shrek Forever After fell to third place with $15.8 million, a mild drop of 38 percent from its tally last weekend. Its latest receipts pushed it past the $200-million mark domestically, to around $210 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo: 1. The Karate Kid, $56,000,000; 2. The A-Team, $26,000,000; 3. Shrek Forever After, $15,800,000; 4. Get Him to the Greek, $10,100,000; 5. Killers, $8,200,000; 6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, $6,600,000; 7. Marmaduke, $6,000,000; 8. Sex and the City 2, $5,500,000; 9. Iron Man 2, $4,600,000; 10. Splice, $2,900,000.

UPDATE: Final figures for the top five: 1. The Karate Kid, $55,665,805; 2. The A-Team, $25,669,455; 3. Shrek Forever After, $15,770,491; 4. Get him to the Greek, $9,942,405; 5. Killers, $8,008,007.