Evil Dead was the clear box office champ this weekend. The horror remake earned an estimated $26 million from 3,025 locations, or about $5 million more than originally projected. The weekend’s only other ‘new’ release was Jurassic Park 3D. With $18.2 million from 2,771 runs, the converted-classic fell to fourth behind the more-current 3D hit, The Croods.

Title

Weekend

Total

1.

Evil Dead

$26,000,000

$26

2.

G.I. Joe Retaliation

$21,100,000

$86.6

3.

The Croods

$21,100,000

$125.8

4.

Jurassic Park 3D

$18,247,000

$18.2

5.

Olympus Has Fallen

$10,042,000

$71.1

6.

Tyler Perry’s Temptation

$10,000,000

$38.3

7.

Oz the Great & Powerful

$8,171,000

$212.7

8.

The Host

$5,239,000

$19.6

9.

The Call

$3,500,000

$45.5

10.

Admission

$2,054,000

$15.3

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Thirty years after the original’s release, Evil Dead is back. One of horror’s most beloved cult hits returned to theatres this weekend, backed by an aggressive marketing campaign that dubbed it “the most terrifying film you will ever experience.” The jury’s still out on that particular claim – audiences gave the film a middling C+ CinemaScore – but the extra attention did allow Evil Dead to secure the highest R-rated horror opening so far this year.

2013 hasn’t been the best year for R-rated releases… or for horror films. The genre’s highest debut was the PG-13 Mama with $28.4 million; and while February was swamped by adults-only action-thrillers, it was not until last month’s Olympus Has Fallen that the genre had an impressive domestic opening. Evil Dead was originally expected to open in-line with the $21.7 million of January’s Texas Chainsaw 3D. Considering the latter’s 3D price advantage (not to mention the increased awareness for a franchise that has produced three releases in the past decade), this weekend’s win is especially sweet for Evil Dead.

On Friday, Jurassic Park 3D won second place with an estimated $7 million. The conversion was not expected to hold its place over the weekend, however, so it comes as no surprise that the re-release fell to fourth behind the (currently tied) G.I. Joe: Retaliation and The Croods.

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Twenty years ago, Jurassic Park ranked as the highest-grossing film of all time with $915 million in global sales. Titanic sank that particular record a few years later and, today, the Spielberg classic stands at number 24 on the list of worldwide hits. But with Jurassic Park 4 set for June 2014, Universal committed the classic to a 3D re-release.

Since the 3D conversion of The Lion King grossed over $30 million in September 2011, interest in 3D reissues has been spotty, at best. While Titanic 3D opened to over $25 million last April, Top Gun 3D couldn’t clear $5 million from its entire run this February. Consequently, box office watchers expected Jurassic Park 3D to fall short of $20 million so, in this case, $18.2 million almost qualifies as an over-performance.

After opening to over $40 million last weekend, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was down 48% in its sophomore frame. While the film’s current domestic total of $86.6 million is impressive, the film’s true power is revealed by its overseas numbers. One week ago, the Paramount sequel claimed the highest international opening of 2013 with over $80 million. In terms of worldwide openings, however, Retaliation couldn't beat Oz the Great and Powerful. Still the most successful release of the year, Oz reached another milestone this week by becoming the first film to top $200 million in domestic sales.

Overall, this weekend’s box office was up slightly from 2012. Unfortunately, next weekend’s new releases, including Scary Movie 5, seem less-than promising, so it may be up to holdovers like G.I. Joe: Retaliation and The Croods to keep 2013 in the black.

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