The Incredibles was incredible.
Pixar's computer-animated story of the adventures of a family of superheroes fighting the powers of mediocrity swept up a supersized $70.5 million its opening weekend, according to final studio tallies released Monday.
The animated fantasy registered as Pixar's most successful opening ever, surpassing even the $70.2 million debut of the studio's smash hit-fish tale Finding Nemo in May 2003. Both films were distributed in collaboration with the 'toon company's soon to be ex-partner, Disney.
While The Incredibles went up, up and away, it didn't quite take the 'toon title for best opening ever. Shrek 2, from Disney's archrival DreamWorks, holds the record after tallying a very, very green $108 million in May. (DreamWorks, in an effort to steal some of The Incredibles' thunder this weekend, decided to release the Shrek 2 DVD on Friday.)
The Incredibles, Pixar's first PG-rated offering, was created by Brad Bird (The Simpsons, The Iron Giant) and features the voice of Craig T. Nelson as sidelined hero Bob "Mr. Incredible" Paar, who is called back to superherodom in middle age and Holly Hunter as Helen, as his flexible missus, Elastagirl. Hailed by critics, the film was embraced by audiences and became the third-best November opening ever, surpassing Pixar/Disney's Monsters, Inc.'s $62.5 million in 2001, but not Warner Bros.' first two Harry Potter movies--The Chamber of Secrets, which debuted with $88.3 million in 2002, and The Sorcerer's Stone, which opened with $90.2 million in 2001.
In sharp contrast, the weekend's other wide release, Alfie failed to score. Paramount's R-rated remake starring Jude Law in womanizing role originally played by Michael Caine in 1966, managed only a limp $6.2 million in fifth place, despite a marketing strategy that delayed its release so as not to go head-to-head with the half-dozen other recently released or soon-to-be-released movies currently starring Law.
The Incredibles played at 3,933 sites, averaged an auditorium-filling $17,917 per screen and pulled in a full 52 percent of the moviegoing audience. As expected, families dominated the demos, but at least a third of ticket buyers were reportedly teenagers or adults without children in tow. Alfie, in 2,215 sites, averaged $2,807, attracting only 5 percent of ticket buyers.
In its second week, the biopic Ray, starring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, stayed in tune, remained in second place and dropped just 32 percent. Adding 457 sites to play at 2,463, the PG-13 Universal release racked up $13.6 million to bring its total to $39.6 million, solidifying its status as a likely Oscar contender.
Last week's top movie, The Grudge, once again barely budged. The horror flick starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (and already spawning a sequel) dropped down to third place in its third week, but the PG-13 Sony release only fell off 42 percent at 3,336 sites (12 fewer than last weekend), adding $12.7 million to bring its gross to $88.8 million.
Also not suffering a substantial post-Halloween dropoff was Saw. The grisly horror flick, also being prepped for a sequel, was down only 39 percent to fourth place from its third-place opening last weekend. The R-rated Lions Gate release added 152 sites to play at 2,467 and has earned $11.1 million for a total of $35.4 million.
In limited release, Jay-Z's swan-song flick Fade to Black opened at 170 sites and earned $449,331. That made for a $2,643 per-screen average, which was in the same ballpark as the more higher profile Alfie, but Paramount probably found little consolation in that statistic. (Fade to Black was released by the studio's indie arm, Paramount Classics.)
Among the art-house flicks, the top screen average belonged to Fox Searchlight's wine-loving Sideways, which averaged $15,873 per site as it expanded to 56 theaters in its third week of release. Its total gross stands at $1.9 million.
Overall, the top 12 movies for the 46th opening weekend of this year totaled $134.4 million, a huge 46 percent gain on last week, but still 6 percent down from this time last year, when The Matrix Revolutions and Elf were the top draws.
Here's a rundown of the top 10 based on studio figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. The Incredibles, $70.5 million
2. Ray, $13.6 million
3. The Grudge, $12.7 million
4. Saw, $11.1 million
5. Alfie, $6.2 million
6. Shall We Dance?, $5.7 million
7. Shark Tale, $4.6 million
8. Friday Night Lights, $3 million
9. Ladder 49, $2.7 million
10. Team America: World Police, $1.9 million
(Originally published Nov. 7, 2004 at 1:25 p.m. PT.)