“The Social Network,” director David Fincher’s drama about the quarrelsome creation of the online juggernaut Facebook, debuted as the No. 1 weekend film with $23 million.
Distributor Sony hopes for a long shelf life for the film, which has earned Academy Awards buzz and rave reviews.
“It really is a great start for us. This is a movie that is resonating everywhere,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s head of distribution. “It’s just one of those movies that critics and audiences alike are embracing.”
“The Social Network” traces the history of Facebook from Harvard University, where computer whiz Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg, pictured above with Joseph Mazzello) and best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) launched the site, through its meteoric rise with 500 million members and a stock value in the billions.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday:
1. “The Social Network,” $23 million.
2. “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” $10.9 million.
3. “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” $10.1 million.
4. “The Town,” $10 million.
5. “Easy A,” $7 million.
6. “You Again,” $5.6 million.
7. “Case 39,” $5.35 million.
8. “Let Me In,” $5.3 million.
9. “Devil,” $3.7 million.
10. “Alpha and Omega,” $3 million.
Rapper T.I. raises money
for Alzheimer’s charity
Facing fallout from a recent arrest, T.I. raised money Sunday for his family’s new Alzheimer’s disease charity and explained how the idea for it took shape during a previous period of legal trouble.
The rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, held a luncheon for the foundation called “For The Love Of Our Fathers,” which honors their fathers’ battles with Alzheimer’s disease.
The Grammy winner would not talk about his arrest last month on suspicion of drug offenses, but said the inspiration for the foundation came in the aftermath of his 2007 arrest on weapons charges.
“It’s very, very personally close to our family,” said T.I., who served seven months in prison for the firearms offenses. “And while I was, you know, while I was going through my “… period of hiatus, Tameka had the idea of “… starting this foundation. And I thought it was an outstanding idea.”
Cottle’s father, Charles Pope, has Alzheimer’s, an irreversible neurological disorder that causes its victims to lose their memory, become disoriented and suffer personality changes. No cure is known. T.I. said his father and grandmother also had the disease when they died.
