’42’ wins weekend box office

(EW.com) -- Today, Major League Baseball will celebrate its annual Jackie Robinson Day, and all players and umpires will wear jerseys with the number 42, which Robinson, the first African-American player in the MLB, made famous. Don't be surprised if the execs at Warner Bros. join in on the fun. The studio did have a grand slam weekend, after all.

Warner Bros.' new baseball drama 42 topped the box office with $27.3 million — far ahead of recent baseball titles like Moneyball ($19.5 million debut) and Trouble with the Curve ($12.2 million). In fact, 42 scored the best ever debut for a baseball film, surpassing The Benchwarmers' $19.7 million bow. 42 also became the latest release to earn a rare "A+" CinemaScore grade, signifying exemplary word-of-mouth among ticket-buyers. Former "A+" releases include The Help, Tangled, The Blind Side, Titanic, and A Few Good Men.

42, which was produced by Legendary Pictures for $40 million, stars newcomer Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson, as well as Harrison Ford as MLB exec Branch Rickey. The film played exceedingly well with older moviegoers (59 percent of audience members were above the age of 35) and African-American crowds (all ten of 42′s top theaters were in urban markets). According to Warner Bros., a surprisingly high 52 percent of the opening weekend crowd was female.

If history is any indication, 42 will keep running around the bases for a long time to come. Like fellow "A+" films The Help and The Blind Side, which also deal with racial issues, 42 should earn a terrific multiplier and finish well above $100 million. Warner Bros. says it plans on expanding the film from its already-wide 3,002 theater count next weekend.

Cast of '42' visits the White House

In second place, Scary Movie 5 hit more of a bunt than a home run during its opening frame. The spoof sequel nabbed an unremarkable $15.2 million over the Friday-to-Sunday period from 3,402 theaters, a low-point for the 13-year-old franchise. Part of the reason for Scary Movie 5's sub-par performance may have to do with the fact that it arrived in theaters a full seven years after Scary Movie 4, which earned $40.2 million in its opening weekend in 2006. That's quite a long break for a youth-targeting franchise like Scary Movie.

The film stars High School Musical's Ashley Tisdale, as well as tabloid-magnets Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen in supporting roles. (Hey, at least this did better than Lohan's last starring effort!) Those casting stunts weren't enough to drum up interest in the wretchedly-reviewed sequel, though. Scary Movie 5, which Weinstein/Dimension spent $20 million to produce, drew less interest than similar horror spoof A Haunted House, which scared up an $18.1 million opening in January — against a $1.5 million budget no less! Audiences issued Scary Movie 5 a "C-" CinemaScore grade.

Fox's hit animated family film The Croods dropped by a slightly larger-than-expected 36 percent in its fourth weekend to $13.2 million. The $135 million caveman comedy has now earned $142.5 million domestically, and may finish its run with about $180 million. Overseas, The Croods has earned an additional $207 million, making it a big winner for Fox Animation.