'Date Night' falls behind 'Clash' in weekend box office tally
In the end it wasn't much of a clash at the top of the box office charts after all.
With final ticket sales for the weekend calculated, 20th Century Fox turned out to have significantly overestimated the performance of its Steve Carell-Tina Fey romantic comedy "Date Night."
The studio said Sunday morning that the film would sell $27.1 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada from Friday through that day, putting it slightly ahead of Warner Bros.' estimate of $26.9 million for "Clash of the Titans."
Most competitors didn't agree, however. At least three studios not involved with either film estimated that "Clash" had in fact grossed more.
On Monday morning, Fox said the final take for "Date Night" this weekend was $25.2 million. Domestic distribution president Bruce Snyder attributed the shortfall in part to adult audiences staying home to watch Tiger Woods competing in the Masters golf tournament.
The actual weekend gross for "Clash of the Titans," meanwhile, was $26.7 million, giving it a comfortable first-place spot. However, because many people saw "Clash" on 3-D screens, which carry a ticket price surcharge, more moviegoers actually attended "Date Night."
"How to Train Your Dragon" ended up slightly behind both films with a final gross of $24.9 million, down only 14% from the previous weekend.
-- Ben Fritz
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'Date Night' and 'Titans' too close to call, but 'Dragon' is a winner at the box office
Photo: Tina Fey and Steve Carell in "Date Night." Credit: Suzanne Tenner / 20th Century Fox
I WOULDN'T GO SEE TINA FEY IF THE MOVIE WAS FREE.
SHE IS A TOOL OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.
Posted by: xinunus | April 12, 2010 at 02:59 PM
Funny. She speaks well of you.
I'd crawl on glass to see Tina Fey in anything. She's brilliant, talented, hilarious, gorgeous, down to earth and cares about people. Perhaps that is what you meant by "Democrat?" Someone who cares about people?
Posted by: iqplenty | April 12, 2010 at 03:24 PM
I agree, she's a total hack.
Posted by: ruffus | April 12, 2010 at 03:28 PM
date night was the funniest movie I have ever seen!
Laughed so hard I was going to pee my pants by the last twenty minutes!
Posted by: maria | April 12, 2010 at 03:32 PM
The movie will fail because no one likes movie stars who are political hacks for one party. I feel sorry for Steve Carrell.
Posted by: Dan | April 12, 2010 at 07:08 PM
What's wrong with you people. You all sound like a bunch of 5 year olds on a play ground. Americans please Grow up and Read as much as you can.
It's just actors in a movie who happened make fun of people because people continue to say crazy and stupid things. They put themselves out in the open to be judged and criticized like anyone else. They know whats coming and they love being in the spot light. Politicians want to be just as famous as actors.
Posted by: jacque | April 12, 2010 at 11:35 PM
Democrats care about people, more like Democrats like spending other people's money and seeing how many people they can give handouts to
Posted by: phil | April 12, 2010 at 11:37 PM
Really, Dan? So you're saying Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt are actually unpopular? Because last I checked, they are very successful and very vocal in their support of liberal causes.
Posted by: Joseph | April 13, 2010 at 01:57 AM
Tina Fey for President...she's got the sharp wit so desparately needed in today's comedians....much better than just an empty, vain Jennifer Aniston who cavorts around like a prima donna instead of a hilarious intelligent woman...Tina rules!!!!
Posted by: Rita | April 20, 2010 at 12:07 PM