Plenty of moviegoers followed Alice down the rabbit hole as Disney's 3D 'Alice in Wonderland' opened to a record setting $116.3 million.
It was the biggest ever opening for a winter release, surpassing the $83.8 million debut by 'Passion of the Christ' in February 2004 -- and an even bigger 3-D debut than 'Avatar'.
The film easily beat forecasts that had ranged between $60 million-$80 million. Interestingly, much of those earnings came from screens that were still dedicated to 'Avatar' before this weekend.
But with a limited number of screens outfitted for 3-D across US and Canada, 'Avatar' was replaced with 'Alice' and that took the blockbuster's earnings down to just $7.7 million this weekend after an almost exclusive 11-week window.
There's also no question that even though 'Alice' was shot in 2-D and transferred to 3-D in post-production, it benefited right out of the gate from the appetite that 'Avatar' created.
The weekend's next highest grossing film, 'Brooklyn's Finest', placed a distant second with $13.5 million and 'Shutter Island' continued to float in the top three with $13.3 million.
Here's a rundown of the rest of the weekend box office:
1. Alice in Wonderland, $116.3 million. 2. Brookyn's Finest, $13.5 million. 3. Shutter Island, $13.3 million. 4. Cop Out, $9.1 million. 5. Avatar, $7.7 million. 6. The Crazies, $7 million. 7. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, $5.1 million. 8. Valentine's Day, $4.3 million. 9. Crazy Heart, $3.4 million. 10. Dear John, $2.9 million.
Plenty of moviegoers followed Alice down the rabbit hole as Disney's 3D 'Alice in Wonderland' opened to a record setting $116.3 million.
