'Ice Age' sequel's domestic haul came in less than expected after receipts were tallied, but pic was warmly welcomed overseas.
Turns out "Ice Age: The Meltdown" didn't set quite as many records as Fox hoped.
Estimates pegged the CGI sequel's opening at $70.5 million, which would have made it the second biggest toon bow ever with a lead of just $32,000 and $248,000, respectively, over "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo." However, when Sunday grosses became available Monday, actual figure came in $2.5 million lower at $68 million.
It turned out that "Meltdown" opened substantially bigger than either of those Pixar toons Friday but slowed down as the weekend went on, with a particularly big deficit on Sunday.
"Ice Age" grossed $21.8 million Friday, compared with $20.5 million for "The Incredibles" and $20.2 million for "Finding Nemo." On Saturday, Fox toon tied "Nemo" with $28 million, behind the $29.5 million taken by "The Incredibles." But on Sunday, "Meltdown" lagged both, grossing $18.3 million while "Incredibles" did $20.4 million and "Nemo" $22 million.
"Ice Age" still retains its crown as the biggest nonsummer, nonholiday bow.
On the foreign side, however, pic proved to be even hotter than Fox Intl. had estimated Sunday by $4 million. Final weekend number was $47.4 million at 4,605 playdates from 29 markets.
A significant part of Monday's jump came from the two largest foreign "Meltdown" markets --Mexico with an industry record $8.8 million at 1,083 playdates and Russia with $8.5 million at 490, nearly $1 million above Sunday's estimate.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com