’42’ Scores Record Opening At Weekend Box Office

The baseball drama 42 broke a box office record over the weekend.

The Jackie Robinson biopic now holds the title for the most money generated by a baseball movie. The film earned an impressive $27.2 million over the weekend. Director Dennis Dugan’s comedy The Benchwarmers previously held this title.

Written and directed by Brian Helgeland (Payback, A Knight’s Tale), the film chronicles Jackie Robinson’s signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Chadwick Boseman stars as the legendary baseball player. Acclaimed actor Harrison Ford portrays team executive Branch Rickey in the film.

In addition to breaking a box office record, 42, managed to impress the critics. The film currently has a “fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences also seem impressed with Helgeland’s effort; the audience score is parked at 81 percent as of this writing.

Analysts previously predicted that 42 would earn around $17 million on opening weekend. However, it would appear that moviegoers were more interested in the story than many initially believed.

Although the baseball flick earned quite a bit of money over the weekend, the much-maligned horror-comedy Scary Movie 5 stumbled a bit out of the gate. The movie generated an unimpressive $15.1 million at the box office.

Director Malcolm D. Lee’s effort is the latest installment of the Scary Movie franchise. However, it’s the first one to hit theaters without one of the Wayans brothers attached to star. Marlon Wayans has since moved on to like-minded series A Haunted House.

Last weekend’s top movie, Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead, managed to add approximately $9.5 million to its domestic total. This represents a 65 percent decrease in business since last weekend. The movie’s box office total currently stands at $41 million. The folks at Columbia Pictures are already working on a sequel.

A list of this weekend’s top 10 movies has been included below.

1. 42 – $27.2 million
2. Scary Movie 5 – $15.1 million
3. The Croods – $13.2 million
4. G.I. Joe: Retaliation – $10.8 million
5. Evil Dead – $9.5 million
6. Jurassic Park 3D – $8.8 million
7. Olympus Has Fallen – $7.2 million
8. Oz the Great & Powerful – $4.9 million
9. Tyler Perry’s Temptation – $4.5 million
10. The Place Beyond the Pines – $4 million

Did you catch 42 or Scary Movie 5 in theaters? What do you think about this weekend’s box office results?