Southern rapper T.I. is not only the "King of the South" but he is sitting atop Hollywood as his new action film Takers has become this past weekend's No. 1 release.
Despite initial calculations showing the movie being knocked to No. 2 by horror film The Last Exorcism, Tip’s flick edged its competition in the final numbers tally.
Sony Picture’s heist film “Takers” grabbed the No. 1 spot at North American box offices over the weekend, overtaking psychological thriller “The Last Exorcism” in a turnabout from early studio estimates. Final box office figures released on Monday showed “Takers” raking in $20.51 million, just edging out Lionsgate’s “Last Exorcism,” which had a haul of $20.36. Sunday’s estimates put “Last Exorcism” at $21.3 million, a slim $300,000 advantage over “Takers” with $21 million. (ABC News)
Following the final numbers being calculated, T.I. shared his reaction to the triumphant victory.
“It was so tight, they kinda misinformed people prematurely and gave out the wrong information,” Tip said about the initial numbers. “But officially, as it stands right now, ‘Takers’ is the #1 movie in the country, contrary to popular belief. In my heart, I felt it would be.” (MTV)
Early reports showed the film taking a No. 2 weekend debut.
Movie theaters were quiet over the weekend, with ticket sales for the Top 12 films down 11 percent compared with the same period last year. A PG-13 rating and a wide release helped push the horror movie “The Last Exorcism” (Lionsgate) to No. 1 with about $21.3 million in grosses, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles sales data. (Right, Ashley Bell, on bed and Caleb Landry Jones.) “Takers,” a moderately budgeted crime thriller from Sony Pictures Entertainment, was a close second with $21 million. (New York Times)
T.I.’s film reportedly performed well in Eastern markets.
When box office returns started coming in Friday afternoon, the heist film “Takers” looked like the clear winner. But as the sun faded on the West Coast, the horror movie “The Last Exorcism” leaped into the lead, ultimately grossing $9.5 million for the day, compared with $7.5 million for “Takers.” The reason? “Takers,” with stars including Chris Brown, T.I. and Zoe Saldana, generated disproportionately high interest among African Americans and had strong performances in East Coast cities such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., with large black populations. (Los Angeles Times)
Check out the film’s trailer below: