10,000 BC tops US box office
Story by Jack Foley
ROLAND Emmerich’s prehistoric epic 10,000 BC easily hit the top spot at the US box office over the weekend (March 7-9, 2008), taking a cool $35.7 million, according to early studio estimates Sunday.
The Warner Bros blockbuster follows a band of hunters on a rescue mission to save their tribe, as they struggle with woolly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and human warlords.
It also took $25.3 million in 20 overseas markets, performing exactly as expected according to delighted Warner Bros executives – and despite some poor reviews.
So, while 10,000 BC fell some way short of the opening success of Emmerich’s past blockbusters Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow (which took $68.7 million), it still performed very well for the timge of year – a point that Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner, was keen to stress.
“Those movies opened up in the summer,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. “We’re very strong for this time of year.”
In addition, 10,000 BC opened at No. 1 in 19 of its 20 foreign markets, including Spain, Germany and Australia.
However, overall box office business in the US was down compared to the same time last year when another Warner Bros film, 300 opened with $71 million and swept all before it.
Elsewhere in the US top 10, British film The Bank Job, starring Jason Statham, opened with $5.7 million, while Disney’s Martin Lawrence comedy College Road Trip took second spot with $14 million.
College Road Trip finds Lawrence playing as an overprotective dad who tags along with his daughter (Raven-Symone) on her girls-only trek to choose a college. It also suffered from bad reviews.
10,000 BC opens in UK cinemas on Friday, March 14. Check out photos