Contagion Infests U.S. Box Office

Warner Bros.' CONTAGION infested the U.S. box office for the weekend of Sept. 9-11, 2011.

Warner Bros.' CONTAGION infested the U.S. box office for the weekend of Sept. 9-11, 2011. Steven Soderbergh's super-flu thriller earned $23.1 million in its opening weekend. Method Studios provided visual effects.

After spending four straight weeks at #1, Disney's THE HELP slipped to second with $8.69 million. The hit drama has brought in $137.1 million to date.

Lionsgate's mixed martial arts drama WARRIOR premiered in third with $5.6 million.

Focus Feature's THE DEBT staked out fourth place, taking in $4.91 million and lifting its cume to $22 million.

TriStar's COLOMBIANA actually gained some standing this week moving from sixth to fifth. With vfx from Special FX International and Wolf Stuntworks, the assassin actioner added $4 million to its $29.8 million total.

Fox's RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES dropped one slot to sixth, bringing in another $3.88 million. With vfx from Weta Digital, Halon Ent. and Pixel Liberation Front, the prequel has amassed $167.8 million to date.

Relativity Media's SHARK NIGHT 3D surfaced in seventh with $3.53 million. With vfx from Digital Sandbox, Makeup Effects Laboratories, Reliance Media Works VFX and Switch VFX, the horror film with teeth has a cume of $14.8 million.

Dimension Films' APOLLO 18 crashed in its second week, falling from third to eight. With vfx from Image Engine Design, the found footage sci-fi horror flick added $2.91 million to its $15 million cume.

Weinstein Company's OUR IDIOT BROTHER came in at ninth, earning an additional $2.76 million. The Paul Rudd comedy has a cume of $21.4 million.

Dimension's SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD rounded out the top ten with $2.51 million. With effects from Hybride, Speedshape and Troublemaker Studios, the family franchise film has receipts totaling $34.2 million.

Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.