Best-Ever Prez Weekend: #1 'Friday 13th' Scares Up $43.7M For Hollywood's Biggest Horror Opening; 'Shopaholic' $17.8M

TUESDAY AM: These are 4-day numbers for what was the biggest Presidents Weekend in Hollywood history —  $226 million and up 35% over last year… I don’t know which is worse: that moviegoers flocked to horrific Friday The 13th 2009 from New Line/Warner Bros because it’s Friday the 13th. Or that they also saw a machete-wielding psycho killer with a loved one on Valentines Day. It’s turning into the best-ever R-rated 4-day opening — amazing for a retread. Hollywood anticipated high $30sM for the 4-day holiday, but the film reach $43.7M from 3,105 theaters. On Friday, it opened to a huge $19.3 million, then expectedly fell 26% Saturday to $14.2M. With Sunday estimates, that’s a $40.7M three-day weekend. Sensing there was more mayhem in the murder franchise, Michael Bay asked New Line to give his production company a chance to revive it. Then he brought Paramount into the mix to handle international. The pic did well because of young females and young males, with older males not far behind.

New Line/Warner Bros had the weekend’s top two films. Holdover He’s Just Not That Into You grabbed 2nd place with $5 million (-50%) Friday and $9.4M Saturday (+91% thanks to a Valentines Day bump) for what was a $19.6M three-day weekend and a $22.4M four-day holiday. And 20th Century Fox’s thriller Taken was in 3rd place with $4.6M Friday and $9M Saturday (+95%) for a $19M three-day weekend and a $21.8M four-day holiday.

I’d been curious how Disney’s Confessions Of A Shopaholic would fare in this lousy economic times. Would females see the film as wish fulfillment or just wishful thinking? What looked to be a sure-fire hit when it was conceived some time ago now looks like a so-so performer. For one thing, it’s the 3rd female-skewed appeal movie released in the last 6 weeks, and it follows by just one week last weekend’s strong No. 1 film, He’s Just Not That Into You. But while that film had a marquee ensemble cast, Shopaholic stars relative unknown Isla Fisher but also director P.J. Hogan (from that hit, My Best Friend’s Wedding). Given the subject matter, this pic was hard to predict. On Friday, it opened only 4th among the Top 10 with $4.4 million from 2,507 dates then fell to 5th on Saturday with $6.4M. It finished the three-day weekend with $15.1M and ended the four-day holiday with $17.8M.

Focus Features’ animated Coraline continues to show the strength of 3-D by jumping into 5th place with $4M Friday and $6.6M Saturday for what was a $14.8M three-day weekend and an $18.8M four-day holiday. Sony’s low-cost runaway hit, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, went over $100M Friday and is in 6th place with an $11M three-day weekend and a $13.7M four-day holiday.

Movie analysts weren’t expecting much for The International from Columbia/Sony. They told me it was aptly named and would under-perform domestically because this Clive Owen thriller with banks as the bad guys had shown only weak interest among older males. So it wasn’t a surprise that The International opened to only $2.6 million Friday and $4.4M Saturday from 2,364 venues and dropped to 7th place. It reached just $9.4M for the three-day weekend and $10.7M four-day holiday.

Here’s the Top 10:
1. Friday the 13th (NL/WB) OPENER [3,105 Theaters] $40.7M Wkd, $43.7M 4-day Holiday
2. HJNTIY (NL/WB) Week 2 [3,175] $19.6M Wkd, $22.4M Hol, Cume $58M
3. Taken (Fox) Week 3 [3,109] $19M Wkd, $21.8M Hol, Cume $80.6MM
4. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Disney) OPENER [2,507] $15.1M Wkd, $17.8M Hol
5. Coraline 3-D (Focus) Week 2 [2,320] $14.8M Wkd, $18.8M Hol, Cume $39M
6. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) Week 5 [2,965] $11M Wkd, $13.7M Hol, Cume $112.5M
7. The International (Sony) OPENER [2,364] $9.4M Wkd, $10.7M Hol
8. The Pink Panther 2 (Sony) Week 2 [3,245] $8.6M Wkd, $10.8M Hol, Cume $24M
9. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) Week 14 [1,634] $7.3M Wkd, $8.8M Hol, Cume $88M
10. Push (Summit) Week 2 [2,313] $6.9M Wkd, $8M Hol, Cume $20.5M