"Puss in Boots" scraped past the record box office for a Halloween weekend opening, but -- like the other two movies that debuted Friday -- opened to soft results.
Although DreamWorks Animation's "Puss in Boots" led the domestic box office, it grossed only $34 million, according to studio estimates. Studio CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said last week he wanted the movie to open to at least $33.6 million, but box-office watchers outside DreamWorks widely expected the movie to take in more than $40 million.
Fox's "In Time," a sci-fi movie starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, debuted at No. 3, with $12 million.
And FilmDistrict's "The Rum Diary" bowed at No. 5, with an estimated $5 million.
Paramount's scary "Paranormal Activity 3" was No. 2 in its second week, dropping 65 percent since its premiere last week and grossing $18.5 million. Another Paramount holdover, "Footloose," took $5.4 million in its third weekend in release, putting it at No. 4.
An East Coast snowstorm clearly affected some markets, knocking out power to some 2.5 million households and businesses from Pennsylvania to New England. Conditions in New Jersey were so bad, Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency.
But nationwide, the box office was up 8 percent compared to this time last year.
With $34 million, "Puss in Boots" just beat the box office record for a Halloween weekend. "Saw III" set the mark with $33.6 million in 2006.
The PG-rated movie, which had a budget estimated at $130 million, skewed female. Women and girls made up 59 percent of the audience. People younger than 25 made up 45 percent of the audience.
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Hispanics made up 35 percent of the audience of the movie, which featured the voice of Antonio Banderas.
Those who turned out liked "Puss in Boots," giving it an "A-minus," according to moviegoer survey firm Cinemascore.
Anne Globe, DreamWorks Animation's chief marketing officer, told TheWrap Sunday that the weather "probably took a couple of million off the top. There were some theater closings, and just the threat of it gets people thinking about not going out."
In fact, she said, in parts of the country not affected by the snow, the movie saw tremendous increases between Friday and Saturday. In Los Angeles, audiences increased by 49 percent Friday to Saturday. In Dallas, they increased by 79 percent.
In New York, though, audiences increased by only 20 percent.
"The key really for us now is to maximize the pent-up demand at the box office going forward," Globe said. "Word-of-mouth looks to be very strong on the movie."
And she said the studio has long looked at a two-week opening strategy for "Puss in Boots."
Chris Miller's animated "Shrek" spinoff originally was set to be released Nov.
