7 Feb – It is the start of Super Bowl season in the U.S. and two movies explored the dark recesses of caves and dorm rooms - "The Roommate" saw the faint glimmer of the top spot, while "Sanctum" sank to new depths for a modern 3D action movie. However this still goes down as the least-attended Super Bowl weekend in 15 years for the weekend just gone (4-7 Feb), as reported by Box Office Mojo.
The tracker site also reported that "Roommate", the derivative of "Single White Female", enrolled an estimated US$15.6 million". With 84 percent of its gross coming from 3D presentations, "Sanctum" unearthed an estimated US$9.2 million which was less than Piranha 3D's $10.1 million start and among spelunking thrillers, "Sanctum" grossed more than "The Descent" and "The Cave", though its attendance was less than either one, and its opening was below par for survival thrillers in general. While previous weekend's chart-topper, "The Rite" took the most severe hit among nationwide releases, plummeting 62 percent to an estimated US$5.6 million for a US$23.7 million sum in ten days. "The Roommate" will open in Malaysia on 21 April and a week later in Singapore while "Sanctum" is scheduled for a 17 February release on both Malaysia and Singapore. Meanwhile GSC Mid Valley cinema manager Lee Kong Yew revealed that the top three highest-grossing movies at the prime location were overwhelming crowd favourites over the Chinese New Year weekend were "The Green Hornet", "Shaolin" and "I Love Hong Kong".
Other new releases and sneak shows over the weekend in Malaysia include "What Women Want", "Mr. & Mrs. Incredible", "Yogi Bear" and "All's Well Ends Well 2011". New releases and sneak shows in Singapore over the weekend include "No Strings Attached", "What Women Want", "The King's Speech", "Triangle", "If You Are The One 2", "Mr. & Mrs. Incredible", "I Love Hong Kong", "The Rebound", "Homecoming", "The Green Hornet" and "All's Well Ends Well 2011".