Who! Does It

Mon., Mar. 17, 2008 3:17 PM PDT by Joal Ryan

Jim Carrey's elephant ears were not worn for naught.

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, the CGI-animated tale starring the voices of Carrey, Steve Carell and Carol Burnett, trounced the weekend competition with $45 million, per final studio figures compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations.

The other major new releases, Never Back Down (third place, $8.6 million), a sort of Extreme Fight Club for teens, and Doomsday (seventh place, $4.9 million), the uplifting action tale about death, disease and more death, were among the also-rans.

Horton prospered from being the newest and biggest family film in theaters—Disney's College Road Trip (fourth place, $7.8 million; $24.2 million overall) has already run its course—and from being heavily promoted by Carrey.

The movie star, whose 2007 thriller, The Number 23, bombed, talked up Horton on everything from Oprah to American Idol. For the Idol appearance on last week's results show, Carrey pulled out the wardrobe stops, dressing from big ears to floppy toes in an elephant suit.

The effort gave Carrey his first No. 1 opener since 2004's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

It also gave 2008 its biggest hit of the year to date. The last stat, however, is more a reflection of how modest this year's hits have been rather than how big a hit Horton is.

To be sure, Horton's opening placed it in the good company of films such as 2007's Ratatouille ($47 million) and 2005's Madagascar ($47.2 million), per Box Office Mojo stats. But it didn't get it in the same league with Blue Sky Studio's two biggest hits, 2006's Ice Age: The Meltdown ($68 million) and 2002's Ice Age ($46.3 million), which was released when tickets were, on average, about $1 cheaper than today.

It also wasn't near enough to rival Carrey's last Dr. Seuss outing, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which debuted with $55.1 million in 2000, back when tickets were, on average, almost $1.50 cheaper.

It's doubtful, however, that Horton, big ears or no, is hearing anything right now but the good news.

Elsewhere:

Last weekend's champ, 10,000 B.C. (second place, $16.8 million; $61.6 million overall), took the now-traditional 50 percent-plus plunge.
Jumper ($2 million; $75.7 million overall) dropped out of the top 10 after four weekends, as did Step Up 2 the Streets ($1.5 million; $55.5 million overall). Fool's Gold ($1.7 million; $65.4 million overall) was done after five weekends. All three had respectable runs—sort of. Jumper hasn't made back its reputed production budget; the second Step Up hasn't made as much as the first Step Up; and Fool's Gold has made about $40 million less than Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey's How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
The home-invasion antics of Naomi Watts' Funny Games didn't play well. Debuting in 289 theaters, the R-rated drama pulled in just $510,958.

Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, $45 million
2. 10,000 B.C., $16.8 million
3. Never Back Down, $8.6 million
4. College Road Trip, $7.8 million
5. Vantage Point, $5.5 million
6. The Bank Job, $5.1 million
7. Doomsday, $4.9 million
8. Semi-Pro, $3 million
9. The Other Boleyn Girl, $2.9 million
10. The Spiderwick Chronicles, $2.3 million

(Originally published Mar. 16, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. PT.)