TRON: LEGACY SOARS AT IMAX VENUES

Clearly moviegoers were primarily attracted by the whiz-bang special effects of Disney’s Tron: Legacy — not what critics described as its muddled plot. Veteran box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian pointed out Monday that of the $44 million in gross domestic ticket sales for the movie over the weekend, $10.3 million was generated by premium-prized ticket sales at IMAX theaters — more than 23 percent of the total. Dergarabedian noted that the movie earned a whopping $44,111 on average in each of the IMAX theaters. Somewhat worrisome for the studio, however, may be the figures showing that Tron: Legacy earned 40 percent of its weekend gross on Friday, when fanboys eagerly packed theaters to see it. By Sunday the tally had fallen to just $11.5 million, suggesting that a huge drop-off may be in store for the film next weekend. Overall, the box-office was virtually flat with the same weekend last year, when the box office was fired up by the debut of Avatar with $77 million in ticket sales.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Tron: Legacy, Disney, $44,026,211, (New); 2. Yogi Bear, Warner Bros., $16,411,322, (New); 3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 20th Century Fox, $12,388,662, 2 Wks. ($42,752,237); 4. The Fighter, Paramount, $12,135,468, 2 Wks. ($12,569,403); 5. Tangled, Disney, $8,775,344, 4 Wks. ($127,918,276); 6. The Tourist, Sony, $8,522,287, 2 Wks. ($30,613,520); 7. Black Swan, Fox Searchlight, $8,383,479, 3 Wks. ($15,791,753); 8. How Do You Know, Sony, $7,484,696, (New); 9. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1, Warner Bros., $5,022,361, 5 Wks. ($265,723,618); 10. Unstoppable, 20th Century Fox, $1,843,696, 6 Wks. ($77,386,304).