Strong #1 Debut for ‘Couples Retreat’ (updated)
Time to toast the champagne, as Vince Vaughn and company have landed at number one at the box office with Couples Retreat. The ensemble comedy raked in over $35 million according to box office estimates. This is one of the strongest openings of Vince Vaughn’s career.
Top box office openings for films starring Vince Vaughn (in millions):
- The Break-Up (2006) - $39.2
- Couples Retreat (2009) - $35.3 (estimated) $34.3 (official results)
- Wedding Crashers (2005) - $33.9
- Four Christmases (2008) - $31.0
- Dodgeball (2004) - $30.0
Given the less-than-stellar box office performance of 2009 films from Will Ferrell (Land of the Lost), Jack Black (Year One), and Seth Rogen (Observe & Report and Funny People), it’s nice to see that a Frat Pack star other than Ben Stiller can still open a movie to large audiences.
Kristin Davis and Jon Favreau in Couples Retreat
I think it also benefited by being the only new wide release this week. It will be interesting to see the holdover the film has next week.
Its easy to forget Vince’s star power since he only does one movie per year. But by limiting the number of projects he commits to, he’s steadily built a solid track record.
Even his one major dud (Fred Claus) churned out a decent $70+ million. Even more impressive is that unlike Ben Stiller, Vince has an easier time opening without a franchise or co-headliner.
I don’t doubt Vince’s star power brought them in, although Jon Favreau and Jason Bateman were draws for me to see this too. They changed the posters to only his name top billed and any advertising I saw used only his name as well. I’m just curious to see how next week holds up.