The USA Weekend Top 10 Box Office Summery (Week of Jan. 4-6, 2013).
1. Texas Chainsaw 3D
2. Django Unchained
3. The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey
4. Les Miserables
5. Parental Guidance
6. Jack Reacher
7. This is 40
8. Lincoln
9. The Guilt Trip
10. Promised Land
Box Office Report: 'Texas Chainsaw' Rips Through 'Django,' 'Hobbit,' 'Les Miz' at Box Office
"Texas Chainsaw 3D" pulled a stunner at the domestic box office this weekend, as the blood-drenched monster rehash massacred its rivals, taking in $23.3 million in its first three days of release.
Horror fans -- largely overlooked during the holiday season when awards and family fare rules at the multiplexes -- turned out in force and enabled the tool-wielding Leatherface to slice up “Django Unchained,” “Les Miserables” and “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which fell from the top spot after three weeks.
The Weinstein Company’s “Django” took in $20 million to finish second and crossed the $100 million mark in the process. Quentin Tarantino’s slave saga has taken in $106.3 million since opening on Christmas Day.
“The Hobbit” was third with $17.5 million and Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth epic raised its domestic total to $263 million for Warner Bros. With more than $561 million from overseas, the first installment of the trilogy has taken in more than $820 million worldwide.
“Les Miserables” was fourth with $16.1 million. The star-studded musical also crossed the century mark and has brought in more than $103 million for Universal since its Christmas Day debut. The film, which stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway, added $14.5 million from 17 foreign markets over the weekend. It has taken in $81 million overseas and now has a worldwide total of $184.6 million.
Fox's Billy Crystal-Bette Midler family comedy "Parental Guidance," another Christmas Day opener, upped its overall domestic total to nearly $53 million, taking in $10.1 million.
The performance of "Texas Chainsaw" is a coup for Lionsgate, which spent $20 million to market and promote the picture, produced by Millennium Pictures for roughly $20 million. It blasted past pre-release expectations, which had it at around $15 million for the weekend.
Pent-up demand from underserved horror fans is becoming a post-holiday tradition. Paramount pulled off a similar shocker last year, when it opened exorcism tale "The Devil Inside" to $33 million in the first week in January. The last horror film in wide release was "Paranormal Activity 4," which opened on Oct. 19.
Opening an R-rated horror film so soon after the holidays “is kind of a calculated risk,’ Lionsgate president of film distribution Richie Fay told TheWrap Sunday, “but this time it paid off. I think the audience -- particularly fans of this genre -- was ready for something other than holiday fare.”
"Texas Chainsaw" defied critics and word-of-mouth. Opening night audiences gave the splatter fest just a "C+" CinemaScore. It got a big boost from its Friday performance, which included a number of midnight Thursday screenings, and totaled $10.2 million. Over the three days in 2,654 theaters, "Chainsaw" averaged $8,785 per location.
The "Chainsaw" audience was largely young women, with 52 percent female and 64 percent under 25.