Facing exactly nothing in terms of wide-release competition, Resident Evil: Afterlife handily topped the box office this weekend, trading on the franchise’s established popularity and inflated 3D ticket prices to rake in more than the rest of the top five films combined with $27.7 million. The rest of the top 10 took a marked tumble, dropping anywhere from 30 to 60 percent—even ol’ reliable, Inception, which spent its ninth week in the top 10 in the No. 9 position—resulting in the worst sales numbers in over two years on what is usually the slowest weekend of the year.
Farther down the list, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse added a couple more pennies to the franchise’s massive pile with a theatrical re-release to coincide with fictional protagonist Bella Swan’s birthday. (No, really.) That blatant cash grab was worth another $745,000 and a No. 18 position, but spread over nearly 2,000 theaters it only amounts to around $600 in hard-earned allowance dollars per screen. By comparison, the $5,500 per screen the Joaquin Phoenix-starring maybe-mocumentary I’m Still Here took in looks positively robust—though multiplied by a paltry 19-screen soft release, its $104,500 take didn’t make nearly the sort of impression at the box office that Phoenix’s antics made on the controversy-happy media.
For more detailed numbers, visit Box Office Mojo.