'Hannah' holds box-office sway with $29M

The movie averaged a whopping $42,460 a theater, compared to an average of $5,337 in each of 2,436 cinemas for "The Eye" and about $2,327 in each of 1,977 theaters for "Over Her Dead Body."

The grosses for "Hannah Montana" were boosted by higher admission prices many theaters charged because of the 3-D format. Tickets for "Hannah Montana" ran as high as $15, roughly 50 percent more than the top price for other movies.

The success of "Hannah Montana" showcased the commercial prospects for an upcoming wave of 3-D releases, both new movies such as this summer's adaptation of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and rereleases such as the first two "Toy Story" films in 3-D versions.

Digital projection allows sharper and more realistic images than old-fashioned film 3-D, a 1950s fad revived only occasionally over the decades. Now, many big studio films come out in 3-D versions.

Those releases typically do three times more business than 2-D versions, said Michael Lewis, chairman and co-founder of Real D, whose digital-projection 3-D technology was used in most theaters showing "Hannah Montana" and will be used in an upcoming wide release of another concert film, "U2 3D," now playing in limited release.

The 3-D technology eventually could expand turn theaters into venues showing live concerts and sporting events, Lewis said.

"There are a lot of places, a lot of small towns where we have Real D in place where U2's not going to go, Hannah Montana's not going to play there," Lewis said. "They'll be able to see it in theaters, and in my view maybe with a better seat and better experience than if they were actually there live."

Hollywood's box-office roll continued, with the top-12 movies taking in $101.5 million, up 43 percent from Super Bowl weekend a year ago. Movie attendance so far this year is up nearly 11 percent, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," $29 million.

2. "The Eye," $13 million.

3. "27 Dresses," $8.4 million.

4. "Juno," $7.5 million.

5. "Meet the Spartans," $7.1 million.

6. "Rambo," $7 million.

7. "The Bucket List," $6.9 million.

8. "Untraceable," $5.4 million.

9. "Cloverfield," $4.9 million.

10. "There Will Be Blood," $4.8 million.