Box office numbers are in for the first month 2009, and despite the bad economy, there’s good news: Last month was the biggest January in box office history, according to Media by Numbers. Films like ‘Gran Torino’ and ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop,’ contributed to the cumulative box office gross of $1.03 billion, the first time box office numbers hit over a billion ever. That total represents an 18.6 percent gain over a year ago (when the January sum was about $867 million), but it doesn’t account for increases in ticket prices or inflation.
Here’s a summary of the biggest box office heroes for January:
For the week: Jan 26-Feb 1
With an unexpectedly big gross of $24.6 million, Liam Neeson’s kidnapping thriller ‘Taken’ was the victor at the box office on Super Bowl weekend.
For the week: Jan 19-25
‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ finished at No. 1 for the second consecutive weekend, with a $21.5 million gross, bringing the comedy’s 10-day sum to $64.8 million.
For the week: Jan 12-17
Kevin James’ comedy, ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’, won the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, grossing $33.8 million–a total that far exceeded expectations.
For the week: Jan 5-11
Seventy-eight-year-old Clint Eastwood was a big draw at the box office–in fact, he’s bigger than ever. The actor-director’s latest action-drama, ‘Gran Torino’, was No. 1 on the first competitive weekend of 2009, grossing $29 million. That’s the highest single-weekend total of Eastwood’s six-decade Hollywood career.