It was a great weekend for race relations at the box office this weekend. Disney added a brave black girl to its long and increasingly ethnically diverse list of animated leading ladies. Clint Eastwood's latest release tackled the inspiring story of a black president and a white rugby captain joining forces to help racially damaged post-apartheid South Africa find common ground. The Blind Side continued its venture sharing the true story of a homeless black kid taken in and encouraged to succeed by a well-to-do white family. And all these movies took one of the top three spots on the box office sales chart.
The Princess and the Frog took an easy number one spot with $25 million. That's the highest opening weekend for a hand-drawn Disney animated release since Lilo and Stitch back in 2002. The opening total isn't anything to croak about, but it's a hopeful start for an animation style that has struggled throughout the decade to capture the imagination of audiences.
Invictus came in at third place with $9 million, a tough sum for a movie facing a $60 million budget to recover. Fortunately Eastwood's films usually do well internationally, and so far only the US, Canada and South Africa have had a chance to buy tickets. The movie's release across the world extends well into 2009 and, consequently, Oscar nom season.
Entering into its fourth weekend The Blind Side held its own adding another $15 million to the $150 million it has already banked to date. In second place it's sitting pretty, having long since recovered its $30 million budget and moved forward to become one of the most lucrative movies of the year.
For the full weekend box office top ten details, check out the chart below:
| 1. | The Princess and the Frog | $25,000,000 - | Total: $27,880,000 | LW: 16 WR: 3 THTRS: 3,434 |
| 2. | The Blind Side | $15,450,000 - | Total: $150,212,000 | LW: 1 WR: 4 THTRS: 3,388 |
| 3. | Invictus * | $9,085,000 - | Total: $9,085,000 | LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 2,125 |
| 4. | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | $8,000,000 - | Total: $267,360,000 | LW: 2 WR: 4 THTRS: 3,635 |
| 5. | A Christmas Carol (2009) | $6,871,000 - | Total: $124,464,000 | LW: 4 WR: 6 THTRS: 2,402 |
| 6. | Brothers | $5,000,000 - | Total: $17,402,000 | LW: 3 WR: 2 THTRS: 2,088 |
| 7. | 2012 | $4,400,000 - | Total: $155,337,000 | LW: 6 WR: 5 THTRS: 1,838 |
| 8. | Old Dogs | $4,396,000 - | Total: $39,983,000 | LW: 5 WR: 3 THTRS: 3,090 |
| 9. | Armored | $3,500,000 - | Total: $11,747,000 | LW: 7 WR: 2 THTRS: 1,919 |
| 10. | Ninja Assassin | $2,710,000 - | Total: $34,307,000 | LW: 8 WR: 3 THTRS: 2,100 |
