“Horton Hears A Who!”

Nautilus Entertainment
March 15, 2008

Horton Hears A Who!”, has earned $45 million in ticket sales.
The Top 10 was closed by “Jumper”, which earned $2,135,000.

Twentieth Century Fox's G-rated "Horton Hears a Who!" opened to an estimated $45.1 million at the box office this weekend, the studio said today, the latest powerful performance by a movie aimed at family audiences.

The animated picture, produced for about $90 million, follows a string of G- or PG-rated hits since the fall including Walt Disney Co.'s "Enchanted" and "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" and Fox's partly animated musical-comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks."

For years the G rating, in particular, has been seen as a stigma, a turnoff for teenagers and older moviegoers who snicker at wholesome fare. But "Horton," adapted from the classic Dr. Seuss book, attracted a fairly diverse crowd, estimated at 53% families and 47% non-families, including unaccompanied teens.

"This was a 'Who-mongous' opening," said Chris Aronson, Fox's senior vice president of domestic distribution. "We played to all 'Whos' from 2 to 92, and I'm not just being cute. It was an all-audience film."

The heavily marketed movie, whose voice cast includes Jim Carrey and Steve Carell, matched most industry expectations and easily topped the charts over Warner Bros.' prehistoric epic "10,000 BC," which slid 54% in its second weekend to $16.4 million.

Among the two major new action pictures hitting the market, Summit Entertainment's mixed martial-arts drama "Never Back Down" fared best, grossing $8.6 million to open at No. 3.

The apocalyptic thriller "Doomsday," from Universal's Rogue Pictures label, mustered $4.7 million to rank seventh for the weekend.

The PG-13-rated "Never Back Down" cost about $20 million to produce; the budget for the R-rated "Doomsday" was $19 million.

Industrywide revenue rose 8.5% from the same period in 2007, reversing a four-weekend slump, according to data tracker Media by Numbers.

Year to date, however, box-office revenue and attendance are little changed from 2007