Proving that he wasn’t mad as a hatter for creating his own new version of the well-heeled Alice In Wonderland tale, Tim Burton’s new flick went straight to the top of the box office this weekend.
Earning itself a staggering $116m in box office kerchings, Alice became the most successful March debut ever – and beat other 3D pic Avatar ’s opening weekend haul of $77m.
It’s also a career best opening weekend for Burton, with Alice doubling Charlie And The Chocolate Factory ’s initial takings of $56m.
The competition didn’t have a chance, with second place going to crime thriller Brooklyn’s Finest (below), which took a measly $13.5m in comparison.
Last week’s box office champ Shutter Island wasn’t far behind, nabbing $13.3m, while Kevin Smith’s Cop Out took fourth place (despite all the negative reviews) with $9.1m.
And Avatar clung on at fifth place with a further $7.7m, meaning it’s now taken a whopping $720m domestically in the US.
Good buzz helped The Crazies scare up another $7m in receipts, while Percy Jackson ’s not going down without a fight, sitting pretty in the seventh spot with another $5m.
Valentine’s Day also continues to spread the love, adding another $4m to its $106m haul (and very almost justifying Garry Marshall’s plans for a sequel, except not really).
Finally, Crazy Heart drew crowds ahead of Jeff Bridges’ Oscar win, taking $3.3m, and Dear John added another $2.8m to its pocket in tenth place.
Did you catch Alice this weekend?