The big red but kindred hearted demon, Hellboy, has returned to the box office with 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' and it came back big nailing the top North American box office.
- Jul 14, 2008
AceShowbiz - Guillermo del Toro have proved that he and the big red hero Hellboy have a solid fan base with a strong opening of the tamed demon's second movie "Hellboy II: The Golden Army". Expected by many to be able to compete with this year's other summer blockbuster films, the superhero flick collected an impressive $34.5 million from its debut weekend and thus, secured its place on the #1 box office.
Viewed in approximately 4,400 screens at 3,204 theaters, the Universal Pictures' tidbit topped the first "Hellboy" movie, which pulled in $23.2 million on its first weekend. It also won its box office run against two other feature films let out on Friday, July 11, "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D" and "Meet Dave". "Journey" debuted third, while "Dave" scored a disappointing seventh place.
With the amazing sales, "Hellboy II" has become del Toro's biggest premiere film beating his previous big-opening of "Blade II" with $32.5 million in 2002. The record makes many believed that the success of the Ron Perlman-starrer film could not be separated from its director. "'Pan's Labyrinth' made a big impression on a lot of people," box-office tracker Media By Numbers's president Paul Dergarabedian stated. "If they weren't fans of Guillermo del Toro before, they certainly are now."
Though showing a great contender side, it doesn't mean that "Hellboy II" gets an easy run at the box office. Breathing down its neck is last week's champ, "Hancock". The Will Smith-actioner movie still displays a solid run raking in another $32 million. With that estimation, the slacker superhero flick has collected $164.1 million from its second weekend screening.
Apart from "Hellboy II", another new movie that should be noticed is the 3-D formatted film starring Brendan Fraser, "Journey". The New Line Cinema's family film secures its third position with a stellar $21 million exceeding box office watchers' expectation. "Journey" marks New Line's solid run at the box office for the third straight time, following "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" and "Sex and the City".
Staying at the last two slots at the top five are "Wall-E" and "Wanted (2008)". Piling up more and more gold to their already passing the $100 million mark record, the Walt Disney/Pixar's film "Wall-E" grosses $18.8 million and Timur Bekmambetov's "Wanted" collects nearly $12 million. On the upsetting box office report, newcomers Eddie Murphy-starring "Dave" can not hold up its comedy making it to collect merely $5.3 million on its debut.
