Indiana Jones Rakes In $300m In Opening Weekend

The fourth ‘Indiana Jones’ film has more than recouped its opulent budget in its opening weekend, after it raked in $US311 million in global box office sales through the US Memorial Day long weekend, according to Paramount Pictures. Movie-goers overwhelmed cinema multiplexes to see Harrison Ford reprise his title role in ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. Paramount Pictures estimates that the action sequel made $US151.1 million in the US and Canada from Thursday to Monday, and $US160 million around the rest of the world from Thursday to Sunday. It marked the second biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever, behind only ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End’, which made $US153 million domestically from Thursday to Monday last year. According to Rob Moore, president of Paramount Worldwide Distribution, nearly a third of the domestic audience was made up of parents with their children. "Adults really drove this opening,” Moore said. “This is one of their favorite franchises and they couldn't wait to take their kids with them." The film cost a reported $US185 million to make, even with the principal talent - Ford, director Steven Spielberg and writer George Lucas - deferring their usual fees for a greater share of the profits. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm.