SURVEY SEZ — NO. 1: THINK LIKE A MAN

Who wudda thunk Think wudda done it — open in first place with $33 million, that is? Certainly not Think Like a Man‘s studio, Sony, which thought it might wind up in the neighborhood of $17 million. Not industry forecasters, who had projected it to take in $15-20 million. Yet the movie, based on Family Feud host Steve Harvey’s self-help book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, dominated the box office, ended the four-week reign of The Hunger Games at the top and came in well ahead of the rom-com The Lucky One, which many forecasters had thought would end up in the No 1 spot. As it turned out, The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron wound up with $22.8 billion — still above its predicted take of $15-20 million — And Hunger Games dropped to third with a solid $14.5 million in its fifth week, pushing its domestic gross past $350 million. Also opening well above predictions was Disney’s fourth-place opener, Chimpanzee. The Disneynature documentary earned $10.2 million, making it the biggest debut ever for a film on that label. But while the top films performed exceptionally well at the box office, those below the top five did not, sending the box office down from the same weekend a year ago for the second consecutive week.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo:
1. Think Like a Man, $33 million; 2. The Lucky One, $22.8 million; 3. The Hunger Games, $14.5 million; 4. Chimpanzee, $10.2 million; 5. The Three Stooges, $9.2 million; 6. The Cabin in the Woods, $7.8 million; 7. American Reunion, $5.2 million; 8. Titanic 3D, $5 million; 9. 21 Jump Street, $4.6 million; 10. Mirror Mirror, $4.1 million.

UPDATE
Final Figures for the Top Five Films
1. Think Like a Man, $33,636,303
2. The Lucky One, $22,518,358
3. The Hunger Games, $14,666,007
4. Chimpanzee, $10,673,748
5. The Three Stooges, $9,764,214