LOS ANGELES — Alice is still ruling the movie palace.
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland easily remained the No. 1 weekend draw with $62 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Disney fantasy has climbed to a $208.6 million total domestically, becoming the first $200 million hit released this year.
In its second weekend in theatres, Alice in Wonderland pulled ahead of the $206.5 million domestic haul of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to become the top-grossing of Depp and Burton’s seven films together, which include Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd and Corpse Bride.
“I believe it’s literally the magical, if you would, pairing of Tim and Johnny,” said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.
“When you take those two, they always seem to make something really out of the ordinary.”
Alice in Wonderland added $76 million overseas to bring its international total to $221 million and its worldwide gross to $430 million.
A rush of new movies had so-so openings, led by Matt Damon’s Iraq War thriller Green Zone, which debuted at No. 2 with $14.5 million domestically. Released by Universal, Green Zone stars Damon as the leader of a U.S. Army team who stumbles onto a conspiracy over the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Paramount’s romantic comedy She’s Out of My League debuted at No. 3 with $9.6 million.
The movie stars Jay Baruchel as a geek in an unlikely romance with a babe.
Twilight star Robert Pattinson’s romantic drama Remember Me opened at No. 4 with $8.3 million.
The Summit Entertainment release stars Pattinson and Lost co-star Emilie de Ravin in a dark story of young lovers with tragedy in their past.
In its fourth weekend, Paramount’s Shutter Island, the latest collaboration between Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, was No. 5 with $8.1 million, raising its domestic total to $108 million.
Debuting at No. 6 with $7.6 million was Fox Searchlight’s comedy Our Family Wedding, starring America Ferrera as a Hispanic bride marrying a black man.
Alice in Wonderland took in nearly as much as the rest of the top-10 movies combined.
“It’s like this great divide between the No. 1 and 2 films, which says that without Alice in Wonderland in the marketplace, we’d be hurting right now,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.
“By itself, it’s really propelling huge box office.”
Hollywood’s business soared, with overall revenues at $144 million, up 43 per cent from the same weekend last year, when Race to Witch Mountain led with a $24.4 million debut.
For the year, revenues are at $2.24 billion, up 9 per cent compared to receipts last year, when Hollywood took in a record $10.6 billion.
Factoring in higher admission prices, movie attendance this year is running 6.7 per cent ahead of 2009’s, according to Hollywood.com.
Before Alice in Wonderland opened, attendance was lagging slightly behind last year’s.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com.
Final figures will be released today.
1. Alice in Wonderland, $62 million.
2. Green Zone, $14.5 million.
3. She’s Out of My League, $9.6 million.
4. Remember Me, $8.3 million.
5. Shutter Island, $8.1 million.
6. Our Family Wedding, $7.6 million.
7. Avatar, $6.6 million.
8. Brooklyn’s Finest, $4.3 million.
9. Cop Out, $4.2 million.
10. The Crazies, $3.7 million.