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As part of an aggressive advertising campaign, a trailer of "2012" has been shown for several months, and million of dollars have been spent to make the disaster fantasy known to potential moviegoers. As a result, the movie opened to a take that is usually seen by midsummer blockbusters.
A basically hodgepodge that included classic scenes from other disaster flicks such as "Earthquake," "The Poseidon Adventure," "Volcano," "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" and even "Titanic," the movie follows the fate of a dozen characters as they fall victim to a series of calamities brought on by some kind of solar meltdown. Director Roland Emmerich, a veteran disaster moviemaker, applied the Mayan calendar and other apocalyptic prophecies for their doomsday scenario, which imagines the world coming to an end in 2012. The movie costs more than 200 million dollars.
Ticket sales this weekend are down 5 percent from last year, perhaps due to a poor economy, the North America box office authorities said.
Last weekend's No.1, Disney's "A Christmas Carol" slipped to second place with an impressive 22.3 millions dollars in projected sales. The first IMAX 3D animated fantasy released by Disney, the film is Disney's third adaptation from English writer Charles Dickens' timeless classic.
"The Men Who Stare at Goats," an Overture Films' comedy staring George Clooney maintained its third place from its opening over the last weekend, fetched 6.2 million dollars in projected sales and a total of 23.4 million dollars over two weeks.
Rounding out the top five are: "Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire," Lionsgate, 6 million dollars this weekend and 8.9 million dollars over two weeks; "Michael Jackson's This Is It," Sony/Columbia, 5.1 million dollars this weekend and 67.3 million over three weeks.