$27.87 Million for ‘Chronicle’ in First WeekFebruary 10, 2012 11:30 AM

by Daniel Garris

Fox's Chronicle rounded out its first week in theatres with a first place take of $1.23 million on Thursday. The low-budget sci-fi film fell a slim 2 percent from Wednesday. Chronicle was the week's top film with a stronger than expected seven-day start of $27.87 million. That was 4 percent stronger than the $26.71 million seven-day start of last year's I Am Number Four (which finished its domestic run with $55.10 million). While word of mouth appears to be very solid for Chronicle, the film (and the marketplace in general) will face tough competition this weekend in the form of four new anticipated wide releases.

The Woman in Black grossed $0.897 million to remain in second place. CBS Film's low-budget thriller starring Daniel Radcliffe was down 4 percent from Wednesday. The Woman in Black finished in a close second for the week with a seven-day start of $25.16 million. Like Chronicle, The Woman in Black also outpaced expectations this week. Compared to previous PG-13 thrillers that opened over Super Bowl weekend, The Woman in Black is running 12 percent stronger than 2005's Boogeyman and 1 percent stronger than 2006's When a Stranger Calls.

The Grey held steady in third place with $0.701 million. The Liam Neeson vehicle from Open Road fell 2 percent from Wednesday and 45 percent from last Thursday. The Grey finished in third this week with $12.49 million. That was down 51 percent from the previous frame and places the film's two-week total at a very solid $37.74 million.

Universal's Big Miracle finished all the way down in ninth on Thursday with $0.341 million. The family film starring Drew Barrymore finished in fourth place this week with just $9.34 million. The performance was especially lackluster when considering it was the most expensive of the week's three wide releases.