Box Office Report: ‘Red Tails’ Flies to #2 with $19.1 Million

[Stephan Bobb]

Box Office Report: ‘Red Tails’ Flies to #2 with $19.1 Million

January 22, 2012 

The film did far better than expected (by the Hollywood establishment that is.) 

*According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Red Tails” did far better than expected (by the Hollywood establishment that is.)

In its opening weekend “Red Tails” brought in $19.1 million for a solid number 2 placing at the box office behind “Underworld Awakening” with $25.4 million.

The back story behind “Red Tails” is that Producer George Lucas spent 20 years pursuing the project, and recently revealed he couldn’t get any studio to finance the film because of an all-black cast. He finally decided to put up the money himself, and spent $58 million on the production budget and another $35 in distribution costs.

Weekend/Domestic Box Office Jan. 20-Jan. 22

Title/Weeks in Release/Studio/Theater Count/Three Day Weekend Total/Cume

1. Underworld: Awakening (1), Sony/3,078, $25.4 million

2. Red Tails (1), Fox/2,512, $19.1 million

3. Contraband (2), Universal/2,870, $12.2 million, $46.1 million

4. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (5), Warner Bros./2,630, $10.5 million, $11.2 million

5. Haywire (1), Relativity Media/2,439, $9 million

6. Beauty and the Beast (3D) (2), Disney/2,625, $23.5 million, $33.4 million

7. Joyful Noise (2), Warner Bros./Alcon/2,735, $6.1 million, $21.9 million

8. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (6), Paramount/2,519, $5.5 million, $197.3 million

9. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (6), Warner Bros./2,485, $4.8 million, $178.6 million

10. The Iron Lady (4), Weinstein Co./1,076, $3.7 million, $12.6 million.