“TOY STORY” — PIXAR’S BEST EVER

Toy Story 3 set a record for an opening of a Pixar movie over the weekend as it debuted with an estimated $109 million, to top The Incredibles‘s $70.5 million. After a summer of mostly so-so No. 1 films, the animated film, boosted by premium ticket prices for 3D at a record number of digital sites, far exceeded the combined total for all other releases. The movie started out on Friday with $41 million, the biggest single-day total for any animated movie in history, but it was unable to retain that pace. It ended the weekend below the record $122.5 million set by 2007’s Shrek the Third. Jonah Hex, the only other film to open wide, took a beating as it opened with just $5.1 million to finish eighth. The second week of The Karate Kid was the No. 2 film as it dropped 49 percent to $29 million, while the second week of The A-Team fell to $13.8 million, down 48 percent.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo:
1. Toy Story 3, $109 million; 2. The Karate Kid, $29 million; 3. The A-Team, $13.8 million; 4. Get Him to the Greek, $6.1 million; 5. Shrek Forever After, $5.5 million; 6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, $5.3 million; 7. Killers, $5.1 million; 8. Jonah Hex, $5.09 million; 9. Iron Man 2, $2.7 million; 10. Marmaduke, $2.65 million.

UPDATE
Virtually all of the top films beat Sunday’s estimates, final box-office results indicated on Monday. Toy Story 3 wound up with $110.31 million. The Karate Kid dropped just 46 percent to $29.88 million and crossed the $100 million mark after just ten days. Its gross now stands at $107.13 million. Fox’s the A-Team slid 44 percent to $14.41 million to place third. Even Jonah Hex exceeded its estimates, earning $5.39 million to place seventh.