Critically-acclaimed action film “Inglourious Basterds” dominated the box office Friday, scoring $14.3 million in its opening day.
Narrowly ahead of last week’s “District 9,” which opened to $14.2 million, “Inglorious Basterds” had the second best opening day for an R-rated film in August history (behind “American Pie 2”). It also gave director Quentin Tarantino his top opening day of all time, besting the $10.8 million for “Kill Bill Vol. 2.”
With all other releases well behind “Inglourious Basterds,” “District 9” landed in second Friday with $5.5 million, a dip of more than 60% from last week’s debut. “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” in third place, earned $3.6 million, while female-targeted films “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and “Julie & Julia” rounded out the top five with $3.3 million and $2.6 million, respectively.
New release “Shorts,” meanwhile, opened its run with a meager $2.1 million. The Robert Rodriguez-helmed family film should improve its total Saturday thanks to matinee showings, but its overall weekend gross will remain far from significant.
The critically-panned “Post Grad” grabbed about $1 million Friday, while “X Games 3D: The Movie” was good for a mere $285,000.