Dear John nearly doubled analysts projections with a whopping $34 million in its opening weekend. More than 80% of its audience was female and more than 21% of its audience was under the age of 21. This also marks Channing Tatum’s second $30 million plus box office openings (GI Joe opened at $54 million) , solidifying him as one of Hollywood’s hottest young stars.
This was the same audience that ploughed High School Musical 3 and the Twilight movies into the top spot.
For the first time in seven straight weeks, the Oscar nominated special effects fest Avatar got bumped into second place with $23 m.5 million. John Travolta’s new action flick flopped taking in a lowly $8.1 million in its debut week. Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness fell from No.2 to No.4 with $7 million. Dwayne Johnson’s “Tooth Fairy” comedy finished at No. 5.
When in Rome, The Book of Eli, Crazy Heart, Legion and Sherlock Holmes rounded out the top 10.
Crazy Heart got a huge boost for its stars Best Actor nominated Jeff Bridges and Best Supporting Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. It earned $3.7 million as it expanded to more theaters this week and finished at No. 8.
