FAST FIVE ROARS FURIOUSLY TO NO. 1

Universal’s Fast Five left every movie of the year in the dust over the weekend as it roared to first place with a smashing $83.6-million victory. The estimated total far surpassed the most sanguine forecasts and gave the movie industry, which has experienced a doleful downturn in revenue and attendance since well before the start of the year, a much needed lift. It “was able to ignite major ticket sales at the box office for the first time this year,” commented the Los Angeles Times. “Fast Five Puts Muscle in the Box Office,” headlined USA Today,, which noted that it was the biggest debut ever for a Universal Pictures feature. “Hollywood’s obsession with franchises paid off,” noted the Hollywood Reporter. All was not bliss at the box office however, as Disney’s Prom and the Weinstein Co.’s Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil each flopped. Prom opened with $5 million; Hoodwinked, with about $4.1 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo:
1. Fast Five, $83.6 million; 2. Rio, $14.4 million; 3. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, $10.1 million; 4. Water for Elephants, $9.1 million; 5. Prom, $5 million; 6. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, $4.1 million; 7. Soul Surfer, $3.3 million; 8. Insidious, $2.7 million; 9. Hop, $2.6 million; 10. Source Code, $2.5 million.

UPDATE:
Final Figures for the Top Five Films
1. Fast Five, $86,198,765
2. Rio, $14,787,836
3. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, $9,860,929
4. Water for Elephants, $9,342,413
5. Prom, $4,712,638