"Think Like a Man" is the Box Office Champ

Shattering even the highest expectations, Think Like a Man posted a thunderous number one bow. The Lucky One took second with strong results, while Chimpanzee saw decent numbers in fourth. Holdovers had mixed declines, but the box office still edged past last year’s Easter-boosted frame.

Tapping into an underserved African-American audience, Think Like a Man took the top spot with an incredible $33.6M from only 2,015 theaters. Based on Steve Harvey’s bestselling Act Like a Woman, Think Like a Man, Sony’s date comedy features an all-star cast including Kevin Hart, Chris Brown, Meagan Good, Regina Hall, Taraji P. Henson, Romany Malco and Gabrielle Union. The PG-13 flick posted the second biggest debut ever for the studio’s Screen Gems unit, trailing just The Vow’s $41.2M from February. Topping The Lucky One was no easy task, since Man had fewer 1,000 theaters and considerable overlap for the date crowd. Critics had mixed feelings, but with a glowing A at CinemaScore, the low-cost $12M pic will be another 2012 winner for Sony.

Warner Bros.’ The Lucky One settled for second with a strong $22.5M from 3,155 theaters. Among Nicolas Sparks adaptations, the Zac Efron tearjerker ranked second behind Dear John’s $30.4M bow. As for the former High School Musical star, the opening nearly doubled his last drama, 2010’s Charlie St. Cloud ($12.3M), and was nearly matched 2009 17 Again, which saw $23.7M from same weekend. Though the film lacked big-name costars, it connected admirably with its star and source material. As with most Sparks films, reviews were overwhelmingly negative, while the CinemaScore was a much better B+.

After four weeks atop, The Hunger Games slipped two spots, falling 30% to $14.8M. Despite two new female-skewing titles, the fantasy epic posted its smallest decline to date, and put Lionsgate at an eye-popping $357M to date.

In fourth, Disneynature broke its downward trend, as Chimpanzee saw $10.7M from only 1,563 theaters. Comparing the three-day openings, Chimpanzee was the biggest yet, topping Earth ($8M), Oceans ($6.05M) and African Cats ($6M). The former had two had Wednesday and Thursday launches to coincide with Earth Day, leading to extended openings of $14.5M and $8.5M. Still, few expected the chimp film to exceed African Cats’ Easter-boosted frame. Chimpanzee drew good reviews and an A at CinemaScore, but the franchise is known for weak legs.

Last weekend’s silver and bronze winners followed. The Three Stooges tumbled 43% to $9.7M, giving Fox a ten-day tally $29.9M. Despite great reviews, A Cabin in the Woods fell 46% to $8M, putting Lionsgate at $27.2M in ten days. Finals of $50M and $45M should result.

Easter weekend’s openers took seventh and eighth with big drops. Universal’s American Reunion fell another 48% to $5.5M and an underwhelming $48.5M in 17 days. Titanic 3D tumbled 58% to $5M, giving Paramount $52.8M in 19 days and a lifetime gross of $653.6M.

Two March comedies rounded out the top ten. Sony’s 21 Jump Street fell only 28% to $4.7M and a $127.2M total, while Mirror Mirror dropped 36% to $4.4M, giving Relativity $55.5M to date.

Compared to projections, Think Like a Man and Chimpanzee exceeded my forecasts of $21M and $6M, while The Lucky One was on target with my $23M prediction.

The top ten was up 3% from 2011 and up 37% from 2010.

Opening next weekend: The Five-Year Engagement, Pirates! A Band of Misfits, The Raven and Safe.