The Numbers Game: Weekend B.O Week 1

Once again, National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets sits atop the weekend box office with just over $20 million. So far it’s made $171, 033, 00 and is obviously a big hit for Disney. It’s only a few million short of the total North American gross of the original film- so I guess in a few years we’ll be seeing a National Treasure 3. With nothing big opening in the next few weeks I imagine it’ll keep raking in the dough until the end of the month.

There’s a very close 3-way tie for second place, with I Am Legend, Juno, and Alvin & The Chipmunks all making around $16 million. I Am Legend has made $228,638,000, proving once again that Will Smith is without a doubt one of the biggest stars in the world. The reviews for the film have been fairly mixed for the most part, but Smith’s movies are totally critic proof. Also critic proof is Alvin & The Chipmunks, which has made an incredible $176,738,000 in just four weeks. I don’t think anyone expected this film to hit as big as it has, and I’d be willing to bet we’ll be seeing an Alvin & The Chipmunks 2 before long (God help us).  The big news this weekend is definitely Juno which expanded to just fewer than 2000 screens this weekend, and made $16,225,000 for a $52,032,000 total- obviously a big cross over hit. This bodes very well for Juno’s chances at the Oscars, and I’d be willing to bet this crowd pleasing film will clear at least $100 million before long.

Clocking in at fifth place is the weekend’s only new release, One Missed Call, which made a better than expected $13.5 million. Usually the first few weekends in January are a dumping ground for sub par films, similar to the last few weekends in August. The film was not screened for critics- which is usually a bad sign.

Charlie Wilson’s War & P.S I Love You are sixth and seventh place- each with just over $8 million. Charlie Wilson’s War has made $52 million- not bad for a political film, but way below average for stars Tom Hanks & Julia Roberts. The poorly reviewed P.S I Love You has made $39 million- probably due to the fact that it’s the only female skewing film out there until 27 Dresses opens on the 18^th. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep is in eighth place with $6.3 million, and a grand total of just over $30 million. Not to bad for a film that got relatively little publicity. Sweeney Todd comes in at ninth place with $5.4 million- making the total gross just over $38 million. It’s a shame this film hasn’t done better at the box office- despite opening strongly. Blame the poor marketing campaign, which tried to pretend the film isn’t a musical. I expect this film to do quite well on DVD and I imagine one day it’ll end up a cult classic.

Rounding out the top 10 is Atonement, which expanded to 583 theatres and made just over $5.1 million- bringing the gross to just shy of $20 million. Boating the highest per screen average of the top 10, expect the film to pick up steam over the next few weeks as we enter award season.

Just outside the top 10 are Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem & The Great Debaters with each pulling in around $4.2 million. AVP:R has made almost $37 million- a quick cash-in & cash out for Fox. Expect the film to end up on DVD shortly. The Great Debaters is still only open on about 1200 screens, but as the numbers haven’t been huge ($22 Million grand total) don’t expect the film to expand much wider. There Will Be Blood– which expands Friday, made $1.3 million on only 51 screens, with a huge per screen average of $26,215. Expect this film to do very well once it goes wide.

Plunging to 17^th place is Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, with a piddling $1.3 million, and a terrible per screen average of $832. With the gross just over $17 million, Walk Hard is proving to be the flop of the season- ending the year on a sour note for uber-producer Judd Apatow, who had an otherwise powerhouse year with Knocked Up & Superbad. Employing a more slapstick approach than those other two films, Walk Hard was not a good fit at all for holiday crowds, and really should have been held to the spring, where good word of mouth might have done it some good.  

Next week: There Will Be Blood & The Bucket List go wide. Expect The Bucket List to tank, while There Will Be Blood should do quite well. The latest Uwe Boll opus, In The Name of The King is opening on over 2000 screens- it will likely tank as it’s a truly terrible film. Even loyal Jason Statham fans will steer clear of that one. Expect Juno to keep raking in the cash for the next few weeks.