Fox/Blue Skys ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN, hailed as the first blockbuster of 2006, opened with a very hot $68M in its opening bow for the weekend ended April 2, 2006. Thats the second best start for a non-summer, non-holiday release, behind THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and ranks as the fourth best opening among 3D-animated features (SHREK 2, THE INCREDIBLES and FINDING NEMO). By contrast, the first ICE AGE opened with $46.3M. This amazing start has prompted Fox to proclaim that a third feature with Manny, Sid, Diego and Scrat is now very likely.
Universals INSIDE MAN fell to second place with $15.4M for a two-week take of $52.5M. Warner Bros. ATL debuted in third with $11.5M. Paramounts FAILURE TO LAUNCH held the fourth spot with $6.4M and a cume of $73M. Warner Bros. V FOR VENDETTA (with vfx by Cinesite, Double Negative and Baseblack) slid to fifth with $6.2M and $56.6M. Buena Vistas STAY ALIVE followed in sixth with $4.5M and $17.2M. DreamWorks SHES THE MAN (with vfx by Rainmaker) settled for seventh with $4.4M and $26.6M. Universals SLITHER (with vfx by Digital Dimension, Kleiser-Walczak, Rocket Science VFX, Switch VFX, Invisible Pictures and Meteor Studios) debuted in eighth with $3.8M. Buena Vistas THE SHAGGY DOG (with vfx from Tippett Studio and Stan Winston Studio) took ninth while barking up another $3.2M for a cume of $53.5M. And Sonys BASIC INSTINCT 2 finished 10th in its opening bow with $3.2M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
