Audiences bullish on ‘Yogi Bear’

“Yogi Bear� has lasted longer than your average movie.

After a weak opening of $16.4 million the weekend before Christmas, the 3-D animation/live-action hybrid based on the 1960s cartoon is closing in on $100 million at the domestic box office.

“Yogi� has now grossed almost six times its debut weekend take, a high ratio. The average “multiple,� as it’s referred to in Hollywood, is a little less than three. But families with young children have continued to come to “Yogi,� making for a slow decline in box office receipts week over week. This weekend, ticket sales fell only 26% to $2.3 million, bringing the movie’s domestic total to $95.5 million.

“Yogi Bear� has also opened in several major foreign countries and has taken in $47.1 million overseas , with a particularly strong showing in Australia. This weekend, it had a solid opening of $2.9 million in Mexico.

While “Yogi Bear� has done much better than appeared likely when it opened, it’s still not a big hit for Warner Bros. The studio spent a hefty $80 million to produce the picture, which features the voices of Justin Timberlake and Dan Aykroyd.

—Ben Fritz and Amy Kaufman