Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Opens Domestically to $27.6 Million

BURBANK, CA--Journey 2: The Mysterious Island opened to an estimated $27.6 million domestically over the weekend, according to studio estimates. That was good enough to place third, behind fellow new releases The Vow and Safe House.  Along with the re-release of Star Wars-Phantom Menace, this time in 3D, the four features combined for the first-ever four openings over $20 million on a non-holiday weekend.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is the sequel to 2008?s Journey to the Center of the Earth.  Journey 2 has already brought in $74.7 million from international markets after opening in late January, bringing its global haul to $102.3 million.

“We dominated the family business,” said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Brothers, who released the film.

The movie was the first 3D film to be shot in the Wilmington and is the first production to use Stage 10 at EUE/Screen Gems Studios.  The soundstage is a 37,500-square-foot, column-free production space that has one of the largest special-effects water tanks in North America. The availability of the stage was one of many factors in attracting Iron Man 3 to the Port City.

Journey 2, which also shot in Hawaii in late 2010, shot in Wilmington for 90 days and is estimated to have had a direct in-state spend of  $19 million while creating 250 crew positions and over 200 talent and background extra opportunities.

Journey 2 stars Dwayne Johnson (Fast Five, The Tooth Fairy, The Scorpion King), Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical, Beastly ), Michael Caine (Batman Begins, The Prestige, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and the only holdover from the first film, Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right, Bridge to Terabithia, and the upcoming NC-filmed feature The Hunger Games).  The movie also features Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights, Anger Management) and Kristin Davis (Sex and the City).  

In the film, Hutcherson's character, Sean Anderson, partners with his mom's boyfriend (Johnson) on a mission to find his grandfather (Caine), who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.