‘Yogi Bear’ has surprisingly long box-office life

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‘Yogi Bear’ has lasted longer than your average movie.

After a weak opening of $16.4 million the weekend before Christmas, the 3-D animation/live action hybrid based on the 1960s cartoon is now closing in on $100 million at the domestic box office.

It grossed almost six times its debut weekend take, a very high ratio. The average ‘multiple,’ as it’s referred to in Hollywood, is a little less than three. But the audience of families with young children has continued to come to ‘Yogi’ throughout January, making for a slow decline in box office receipts. This last weekend, ticket sales fell only 26% to $2.3 million, bringing its domestic total to $95.5 million.

Overseas, ‘Yogi Bear’ has opened in several major foreign countries and has so far taken in a total of $47.1 million, with a particularly strong showing in Australia. This weekend it had a solid opening of $2.9 million in Mexico.

While ‘Yogi Bear’ has done much better than appeared likely when it opened, it’s still not a big hit for Warner Bros. The studio spent a hefty $80 million to produce the picture, which features the voices of Justin Timberlake and Dan Aykroyd.

-- Ben Fritz and Amy Kaufman