'Dolphin Tales' Tops Box Office Ahead of 'MoneyBall' and 'Lion King 3-D'

By Corey Davis, Christian Post Contributor Monday, October 03, 2011

After its second week in theaters, Warner Brothers flick “Dolphin Tales” fished out the competition to top the box office this past weekend.

The movie brought in an estimated $14.3 million from the Friday to Sunday period. Although sales were down 26 percent from last week, this week’s tally still brought the movie to a 10-day total of $37.5 million.

Following closely behind “Dolphin Tales” is the Brad Pitt flick “MoneyBall” which raked in an estimated $12.6 million, down a whopping 36 percent from last weekend.

“Dolphin Tales” starring Morgan Freeman and Harry Connick Jr., is a true story about a dolphin’s journey in receiving an artificial tail from a marina in Florida.

Movie analysts have noted that the faith-based elements in the movie have been key to its success. Andrew Kosove, co-founder of Alcon Entertainment, which financed the movie for about $37 million noted to the Los Angeles Times: “'Dolphin Tale' had a faith-based marketing component to it and is respectful of faith-based audiences, but we don't design our movies for that audience."

Taking a page from Soul Surfer released earlier this year and 2009’s box office smash “The Blind Side,” “Dolphin Tale” was heavily advertised to Christian families in the South and Midwest, two areas where the film is performing greatly.

Other notes from the Box Office regards “The Lion King,” which dropped to third after the 3-D re-release spent the last two weeks on the top of the charts. The film took in $11.1 million dropping nearly 50 percent from last weekend.

Rounding out the top five were debuts from the cancer drama “50/50” making $8.9 million in ticket sales and the power house Christian movie “Courageous” closely behind at $8.8 million.