Opening day: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ headed for $100-million-plus domestic debut after huge Friday

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‘Alice in Wonderland’ will open to more than $100 million in the U.S. and Canada alone after audiences packed theaters on its opening Friday.

Director TIm Burton’s 3-D adaptation of the classic fairy tale starring Johnny Depp sold about $41 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, according to distributor and financier Walt Disney Studios.

Assuming it follows the path of a normal PG-rated family movie, it should collect about $110 million through Sunday. That would give it the second-highest opening ever outside of summer, not accounting for ticket price inflation, after November’s ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon.’

It’s significantly higher than already big expectations for the $200-million event film.

‘Alice in Wonderland’ is also expected to gross tens of millions more this weekend from the approximately 40 foreign territories where it is opening.

--Ben Fritz