Opening Weekends: 4,000+ Theatres

Thus far, only 26 films have opened in 4,000+ theatres. Among those, only Over the Hedge had an opening below $40m and thus a per-theatre average below $10,000.

Some more interesting points:

-9 of the 26 releases have registered opening weekends above $100m.

-9 of the films are animated, all of them CGI

-18 of the films are franchise films: sequels, threequels, etc.

-6 of the films are superhero/comic book films

-4 of the films have an avg. of $30k+, 8 of $25k+, and 12 of $20k+

1	The Dark Knight	$158,411,483	4,366	$36,283
2	Spider-Man 3	$151,116,516	4,252	$35,540
3	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	$142,839,137	4,024	$35,497
4	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	$135,634,554	4,133	$32,817
5	Shrek the Third	$121,629,270	4,122	$29,507
6	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	$114,732,820	4,362	$26,302
7	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$108,966,307	4,234	$25,736
8	Shrek 2	$108,037,878	4,163	$25,951
9	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	$100,137,835	4,260	$23,507
10	Iron Man	$98,618,668	4,105	$24,024
11	Spider-Man 2	$88,156,227	4,152	$21,232
12	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$85,058,003	4,099	$20,751
13	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$77,835,727	4,325	$17,997
14	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	$77,108,414	4,285	$17,994
15	Transformers	$70,502,384	4,011	$17,577
16	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	$63,106,589	4,056	$15,559
17	Kung Fu Panda	$60,239,130	4,114	$14,642
18	Monsters Vs. Aliens	$59,321,095	4,104	$14,454
19	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	$54,713,046	4,007	$13,654
20	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	$54,173,286	4,096	$13,226
21	Superman Returns	$52,535,096	4,065	$12,923
22	Mission: Impossible III	$47,743,273	4,054	$11,776
23	Shark Tale	$47,604,606	4,016	$11,853
24	Madagascar	$47,224,594	4,131	$11,431
25	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	$41,690,382	4,099	$10,171
26	Over the Hedge	$38,457,003	4,059	$9,474

Est. admissions and adjusted for inflation, the grosses are as follows (est. avg. for 2010 $7.75):

#	Film	Est. Adm.	Count	Avg.	Adjusted	Adj. Avg.
1	The Dark Knight	22,062,881	4,366	5,053	$170,987,325	$39,163
2	Spider-Man 3	21,964,610	4,252	5,166	$170,225,727	$40,034
3	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	20,707,565	4,133	5,010	$160,483,633	$38,830
4	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	19,433,896	4,024	4,829	$150,612,695	$37,429
5	Shrek the Third	17,678,673	4,122	4,289	$137,009,715	$33,239
6	Shrek 2	17,397,404	4,163	4,179	$134,829,880	$32,388
7	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	16,676,282	4,362	3,823	$129,241,185	$29,629
8	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	14,825,348	4,234	3,501	$114,896,446	$27,137
9	Spider-Man 2	14,195,850	4,152	3,419	$110,017,836	$26,498
10	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	13,946,774	4,260	3,274	$108,087,496	$25,373
11	Iron Man	13,735,191	4,105	3,346	$106,447,727	$25,931
12	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	11,572,517	4,099	2,823	$89,687,010	$21,880
13	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	11,207,618	4,285	2,616	$86,859,042	$20,270
14	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	10,589,895	4,325	2,449	$82,071,685	$18,976
15	Transformers	10,247,440	4,011	2,555	$79,417,656	$19,800
16	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	8,789,219	4,056	2,167	$68,116,444	$16,794
17	Kung Fu Panda	8,389,851	4,114	2,039	$65,021,345	$15,805
18	Monsters Vs. Aliens	8,070,897	4,104	1,967	$62,549,454	$15,241
19	Superman Returns	8,020,625	4,065	1,973	$62,159,846	$15,291
20	Shark Tale	7,665,798	4,016	1,909	$59,409,935	$14,793
21	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	7,443,952	4,007	1,858	$57,690,627	$14,397
22	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	7,370,515	4,096	1,799	$57,121,492	$13,946
23	Madagascar	7,367,331	4,131	1,783	$57,096,818	$13,822
24	Mission: Impossible III	7,289,049	4,054	1,798	$56,490,132	$13,934
25	Over the Hedge	5,871,298	4,059	1,446	$45,502,561	$11,210
26	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	5,672,161	4,099	1,384	$43,959,246	$10,724

Lowest Opening Weekends in 3,000 and 3,500 Theatres

Films that open widely in 3,000+ theatres tend to open with at least $10m, and films with 3,500+ theatre counts almost always register openings higher than $25m, but there have been times were films have registered low openings despite wide saturation. Among those, the worst by far has been Hoot, which had a disastrous $3.37m opening in 3,018 theatres. The following is a list of the worst openings in 3,000 and 3,500 theatres.

Worst Opening Weekends in 3,000+ Theatres

1	Hoot	$3,368,197	3,018	$1,116
2	The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising	$3,745,315	3,141	$1,192
3	Meet Dave	$5,251,918	3,011	$1,744
4	Imagine That	$5,503,519	3,008	$1,830
5	New York Minute	$5,962,106	3,006	$1,983
6	The Wild Thornberrys	$6,013,847	3,012	$1,996
7	Quest for Camelot	$6,041,602	3,107	$1,944
8	Shorts	$6,410,339	3,105	$2,065
9	Astro Boy	$6,702,923	3,014	$2,224
10	Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	$6,874,477	3,086	$2,227
11	The Nativity Story	$7,849,304	3,183	$2,466
12	Aliens in the Attic	$8,008,423	3,106	$2,578
13	The Ant Bully	$8,432,465	3,050	$2,764
14	School for Scoundrels	$8,602,333	3,004	$2,863
15	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	$9,309,387	3,175	$2,932
16	Stuck on You	$9,411,055	3,003	$3,133
17	Babylon A.D.	$9,484,627	3,390	$2,798
18	Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo	$9,626,287	3,127	$3,078
19	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium	$9,630,085	3,164	$3,043

Worst Opening Weekends in 3,500+ Theatres

1	Charlotte's Web (2006)	$11,457,353	3,566	$3,212
2	Herbie: Fully Loaded	$12,709,221	3,521	$3,609
3	Nim's Island	$13,210,579	3,513	$3,760
4	Snakes on a Plane	$13,806,311	3,555	$3,883
5	Gridiron Gang	$14,414,630	3,504	$4,113
6	Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit	$16,025,987	3,645	$4,396
7	The Shaggy Dog	$16,310,058	3,501	$4,658
8	The Legend of Zorro	$16,328,506	3,520	$4,638
9	Just Like Heaven	$16,408,718	3,508	$4,677
10	RV	$16,414,767	3,639	$4,510
11	Surf's Up	$17,640,249	3,528	$5,000
12	Fred Claus	$18,515,473	3,603	$5,138
13	Speed Racer	$18,561,337	3,606	$5,147
14	Flushed Away	$18,814,323	3,707	$5,075
15	Land of the Lost	$18,837,350	3,521	$5,350
16	The Spiderwick Chronicles	$19,004,058	3,847	$4,939
17	Poseidon	$22,155,410	3,555	$6,232
18	Monster House	$22,217,226	3,553	$6,253
19	The Polar Express	$23,323,463	3,650	$6,389
20	Open Season	$23,624,548	3,833	$6,163

Films With $30M+ Openings Weekends in Less than 3,000 Theatres

As suggested by the post title, this is a list of all the 48 films that opened above $30m while playing in less than 3,000 theatres. A sub-3000 theatre count is not entirely unheard of nowdays, but it is unusual for blockbusters. Tyker Perry's films, which tend to play to a particular audience and have thus a concentrated target, are the most obvious examples of recent films that had large openings from relatively small theatre counts. Hannah Montana's enormous opening on an incredibly small theatre count is an obvious standout as well.

1	Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace	$64,820,970	2,970	$21,825
2	Batman Forever	$52,784,433	2,842	$18,572
3	8 Mile	$51,240,555	2,470	$20,745
4	Independence Day	$50,228,264	2,882	$17,428
5	Jurassic Park	$47,026,828	2,404	$19,561
6	Batman Returns	$45,687,711	2,644	$17,279
7	Batman & Robin	$42,872,606	2,934	$14,612
8	Scary Movie	$42,346,669	2,912	$14,542
9	Twister	$41,059,405	2,414	$17,008
10	Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail	$41,030,947	2,032	$20,192
11	The Lion King	$40,888,194	2,552	$16,022
12	Batman	$40,489,746	2,194	$18,454
13	The Fast and the Furious	$40,089,015	2,628	$15,254
14	The Waterboy	$39,414,071	2,664	$14,795
15	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls	$37,804,076	2,652	$14,254
16	Air Force One	$37,132,505	2,919	$12,720
17	Interview with the Vampire	$36,389,705	2,604	$13,974
18	Star Wars (Special Edition)	$35,906,661	2,104	$17,065
19	Gladiator	$34,819,017	2,938	$11,851
20	Couples Retreat	$34,286,740	3,000	$11,429
21	Ransom	$34,216,088	2,676	$12,786
22	Wedding Crashers	$33,900,720	2,925	$11,589
23	101 Dalmatians (Live Action)	$33,504,025	2,794	$11,991
24	The Haunting	$33,435,140	2,808	$11,907
25	A Bug's Life	$33,258,052	2,686	$12,382
26	Lethal Weapon 3	$33,243,086	2,510	$13,244
27	Superbad	$33,052,411	2,948	$11,211
28	Rush Hour	$33,001,803	2,638	$12,510
29	Scream 2	$32,926,342	2,663	$12,364
30	Blade II	$32,528,016	2,707	$12,016
31	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	$31,765,506	2,274	$13,969
32	Saw II	$31,725,652	2,949	$10,758
33	The Truman Show	$31,542,121	2,315	$13,625
34	Liar Liar	$31,423,025	2,845	$11,045
35	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	$31,126,882	2,222	$14,008
36	Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour	$31,117,834	683	$45,560
37	Bringing Down the House	$31,101,026	2,801	$11,103
38	Star Trek: First Contact	$30,716,131	2,812	$10,923
39	Knocked Up	$30,690,990	2,871	$10,690
40	Bruno	$30,619,130	2,756	$11,110
41	Saving Private Ryan	$30,576,104	2,463	$12,414
42	Bram Stoker's Dracula	$30,521,679	2,491	$12,252
43	The Happening	$30,517,109	2,986	$10,220
44	Unbreakable	$30,330,771	2,708	$11,200
45	The X-Files: Fight the Future	$30,138,758	2,629	$11,463
46	DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story	$30,070,196	2,694	$11,161
47	The Exorcism of Emily Rose	$30,054,300	2,981	$10,081
48	Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion	$30,030,661	2,194	$13,687