BOX OFFICE RETURNS: Ice Age 4 No. 1 with $45.5m

UPDATE: The Box Office is in a minor slump this weekend. The Box Office is down 38% verse last year. It was always going to be down though, because the Harry Potter final opened on this weekend last year.

Ice Age 4 just couldn’t compete with the likes of the Harry Potter franchise and I think we are seeing why  This is only the second significant toon to reach a fourth installment following the Shrek series. But here’s the thing: most 2012 toons have debuted between $50M-$70M domestic. Deadline sources say this Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios and Vanessa Morrison toon Ice Age 4: Continental Drift opened to only  $45.5M for the Ice Age 4 weekend for a lukewarm domestic start from 3,879 theaters (2,731 3D).

Friday: Months ago, I said this would be the most boring weekend of the summer at the box office and it is. Due to the looming Dark Knight Rises release next Friday, only one major studio released a film this weekend. Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios released Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. The film opened at $15.3 million dollars Friday — which is a lower stat than rival studios peg it. And $42 million dollars for the weekend — which again is lower than rival studios peg it at $48M. That’s from 3,879 theaters, of which 2,731 are 3D.

Meanwhile, Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man is the major beneficiary of the studios prevent defenses in reaction to The Dark Knight Rises release. With studio’s doing there best to stay away from Batman, Spider-Man has had the first part of the month of July to themselves. The 3D reboot is making the most of the open spaces, pulling in $10m dollars on Friday making it the projected No. 2 film of the weekend. The film is projected to go on and make $32 million dollars this weekend which will give the film a domestic total of $197 million dollars. That number will put The Amazing Spider-Man in the top 200 domestic grossing films of all-time. As soon as the film crosses the $215 million dollar mark, it will be in the top 100 domestic grosses ever. That ain’t bad.

Here’s the rest of the Top Ten ranked according to Friday estimates:

1. Ice Age 4 3D (Blue Sky/Fox) NEW [3,879 Theaters] PG
Friday $16.5M, Saturday $16.5M, Weekend $45.5M

2. Amazing Spider-Man 3D (Col/Sony) Week 2 [4,318 Theaters] PG13
Friday $10.3M, Saturday $14M, Weekend $35M (-44%), Cume $200.9M

3. Ted (Universal) Week 3 [3,303 Theaters] R
Friday $6.9M, Saturday $8.9M, Weekend $23.0M, Cume $159.8M

4. Brave 3D (Pixar/Disney) Week 4 [3,392 Theaters] PG
Friday $3.4M, Saturday $4.4M, Weekend $10.9M, Cume $195.8M

5. Magic Mike (Warner Bros) Week 3 [3,090 Theaters] R
Friday $3.2M, SaturdayWeekend $8.5M, Cume $91.5M

6. Savages (Universal) Week 2 [2,635 Theaters] R
Friday $2.7M, Saturday $3.7M, Weekend $9.2M (-42%), Cume $31.9M

7. Madea’s Witness Protection (TPerry/Lgate) Week 3 [2,004 Theaters]
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.4M, Weekend $5.7M, Cume $55.5M

8. Katy Perry 3D (Insurge/Paramount) Week 2 [2,732 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3.7M, Cume $18.6M

9. Madasgascar 3 3D (DWA/Par) Week 6 [2,285 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.0M, Saturday $1.5M, Weekend $3.5M, Cume $203.8M

10. Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) Week 7 [924 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.0M, Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3.4M, Cume $32.2M

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