WIth estimates of the $30M weekend, the new Paramount 3D concert documentary JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER jumped onto the list of the top 10 nonfiction features of all time (it currently stands at #8) and is now the number two concert film ever, behind MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT.
The weekend take is the second highest weekend gross for a nonfiction film in history, after last year's JACKASS 3D, which was also distributed by Paramount. For comparison, THIS IS IT had a $23M opening weekend (although it launched on a Wednesday and had already banked $13M by the time the weekend arrived). JACKASS 3D opened with an astounding $50M back in October.
NEVER SAY NEVER was directed by John Chu (who had previous worked on Disney's STEP UP movies). Chu replaced Academy Award winner Davis Guggenhim, who had been attached to the project but dropped out reportedly to focus on the release of WAITING FOR 'SUPERMAN'. Coincidentally, the film that NEVER SAY NEVER knocks out of the top ten all-time is Guggenheim's AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH.
[Note: We don't include the HANNAH MONTANA concert film in our totals since Montana is a fictional character.]
Concert films tend to have far less staying power than traditional documentaries (even doc-busters), but the 3D effect - and the success of JACKASS 3D - will make the Bieber film worth watching over the next few weeks.
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