Money falls on Chicken Little

'Zathura' never stood a chance. The first weekend estimates are in, and last week's number one movie 'Chicken Little' continues its box office dominance in the face of new challengers. In fact, Disney's first computer animated flick recorded the lowest second week drop for any movie this year, losing only 20% of its audience from last week to capture number one again, this time with $32 million dollars. In two weeks the movie has already made $80 million dollars. It’s not doing ‘Shrek’ or even ‘Incredibles’ business, but the film is clearly a hit, and Disney’s first real animated movie success in years.

Standing around in its dust, 'Chicken Little' leaves a slew of new wide releases forced to settle for second, third, and fourth best. With families resoundingly selecting 'CL' as their movie entertainment of choice, director John Favreau's kids adventure movie 'Zathura' came in at number two, making less than half of the number one movie's take with a disappointing $14 million. Jennifer Anniston’s attempt to get a little gritty in ‘Derailed’ came in at number three with $12.8 million, and Fifty Cent’s life of a gangsta movie ’Get Rich or Die Tryin’ fell in right behind it to capture the number four spot, earning $12.5 million.

Outside of wide releases, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ opened in only 215 theaters, but still cracked the top ten with $2,804,000. The latest repeat Jane Austen adaptation will go wider in coming weeks and likely only do better as women flock to Keira’s bonnet and bustier period drama.

The weekend’s biggest per-screen-average was recorded by a little less well publicized flick. Sarah Silverman’s comedy concert movie ‘Jesus is Magic’ opened in only 7 theaters and scored a big $18,285 per screen. On the flipside of Sarah’s success is Richard Gere’s spelling movie ‘Bee Season’. It opened in 31 theaters and spelled out only a meager $6,047 per theater. Kids counting off letters just doesn’t do much for audiences.

Next weekend, the much anticipated fourth ‘Harry Potter’ movie ‘Goblet of Fire’ opens with an unprecedented PG-13 rating. Will the more mature rating hurt or help its box office? For competition, Harry will have to face off with Johnny Cash. The already critically acclaimed biopic will try counter-programming to grab some of Potter’s audience.

Here's a more detailed look at the early estimates for this weekend's top ten earners here in the United States:

Weekend Box Office Top Ten
November 11 – November 13, 2005

1. Chicken Little - $32,026,000 (80,774,000)
2. Zathura - $14,000,000 *
3. Derailed - $12,800,000 *
4. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ - $12,500,000 *
5. Jarhead - $12,264,000 ($47,065,000)
6. Saw II - $9,400,000 ($74,151,000)
7. The Legend of Zorro - $6,600,000 ($39,489,000)
8. Prime - $3,954,000 ($18,998,000)
9. Dreamer - $3,800,000 ($28,925,000)
10. Price and Prejudice - $2,804,000 *

* Denotes new release.