‘Couples Retreat’ Opens to Box Office Success

This past weekend saw the opening of Universal Studios’ latest film, Couples Retreat, which quickly took Zombieland’s place as number one at the box office.Bringing in over $35 million in its first weekend, Couples Retreat not only ousted Zombieland from the number one position, but also took the title of being the highest grossing Columbus Day weekend opener in Hollywood history, a distinction formerly held by Meet the Parents.

The opening success of Couples Retreat comes as a welcome treat for Universal Studios, whose previous two releases, Land of the Lost and Public Enemies met with relatively lukewarm response. Perhaps it was the big name cast featuring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, and Kristen Bell, or maybe it was the matter of a more grown-up comedy opening in juxtaposition to two children’s films, a horror flick, and a zombie comedy, but whatever it was, it worked for Couples Retreat.

While Zombieland was bumped to number two, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs held steady at number three, and Paranormal Activity jumped up to number five from being twentieth the weekend before, thanks in large part to the expansion of its release. .

Disney’s double feature of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D maintained its place at number four, and the studio will soon be announcing whether they’ll be extending the run of the cartoons beyond the originally planned two-weeks.