Weekend Box Office: Tron: Legacy (of mediocrity)
Twenty-eight years after the original Tron did merely okay at the box office, Disney decided to throw $200 million into reviving the moderately enjoyed techno-marvel with Tron: Legacy, another inside-the-machine adventure designed to take advantage of the latest in computer effects. The somewhat predictable result? It did merely okay again. With $43.6 million on opening weekend, Tron: Legacy earned nearly three times as much as other box-office contenders, but it’s digging itself out of a deep production-and-marketing hole. On the plus side, it’s got little competition for family-friendly spectacle this Christmas; on the minus, it’s boring as fuck. Still, some positive spin could be put on its performance, which is more than could be said of the other big openers: Yogi Bear accidentally justified its existence by inspiring a brilliant parody video, then had the courtesy to whiff in theaters, taking $16.7 million for second place. Though it marked Reese Witherspoon’s return to the screen after a two-year absence, James L. Brooks’ romantic comedy How Do You Know was a non-starter, riding a poor title and unkind reviews to $7.6 million and eighth place.