The nutty inhabitants of Shutter Island fended off the arrival of Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan and the remake of a George A. Romero film to stay atop the national weekend box office for a second straight week. Overall, the movie scene was a bit on the quiet side, marking time until next weekend’s one-two punch of the annual Academy Award ceremony and the arrival of 2010’s first big event picture, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
People like what they are seeing in the latest Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio pairing as Island stayed atop the top spot with an estimated weekend gross of $22.2 million from 3,003 screens. Off a mere 46% from its $41.1 million opener, Island now has a healthy ten day haul of $75 million. Given that most films in the thriller genres drop between 60-70% in their second weekends of release, Island’s drop of less than 50% is a sign that word-of-mouth among ticket buyers has been quite positive. Depending on how well it holds over the next few weeks, Island could finish close to the $132 million haul of Scorsese’s biggest hit to date, 2006’s The Departed.
In the second spot was the first of two wide releases this week, the Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan action comedy Cop Out with a so-so gross of $18.6 million from 3,150 screens. While the opening represents a career-high opening for director Kevin Smith, whose films are normally given small openings, the bow is another mediocre showing for star Willis following last year’s bomb Surrogates. Reviews were pretty savage for the buddy comedy. But then again, do films like Cop Out really thrive on good reviews? I didn’t think so.
In the third spot was another film from a genre that normally doesn’t care or rely on reviews to do well at the box office. The remake of George A. Romero’s The Crazies, however, did have positive reviews from critics to help it scare up a solid $16.5 million from 2,477 screens (the second best in the current top ten). It will be very interesting to see where the remake goes in the next couple of weeks. Will positive word-of-mouth from viewers and critics help turn the movie into a sleeper hit or will the film go down the standard horror genre path and drop like a rock over at the box office en route to a home video afterlife? Next weekend will provide the answer.
Fourth place went to the ever-durable Avatar which once again had the smallest drop of any film in the top ten (14%). Its $14 million estimated gross in its eleventh weekend brings its domestic haul to a record-setting $707 million (new global gross: $2.48 billion). With many of the 3D and IMAX screens changing over to Alice in Wonderland next weekend, Avatar might begin to see more substantial drops in business. But since the movie has defied every single possible stumbling block it has faced since opening on December 18 of last year, those declines may not materialize (especially if the film wins tons of awards next Sunday night). Despite losing screens, Avatar is still looking to finish its mind-blowing run at the domestic box office in the $750 million range.
Fox’s other big-budget flick in the top ten, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief held up well in its third weekend with a $9.8 million haul (off only 36%) to bring its estimated total to $72 million. The $100 million mark may still be a possibility depending on how well the film withstands the Alice onslaught. One of the films that opened the same weekend as Percy, the star-studded Valentine’s Day, did join the century club this weekend thanks to a $9.5 million gross. Off 43%, Valentine’s Day has made an estimated $100.3 million to date.
Stabilizing a bit in seventh place was the drama Dear John, which was off 29% for a $7 million three-day haul and a new total of $72.6 million. Fading fast in eight spot was Universal’s The Wolf Man, off 59% percent from last weekend for $4.1 million and a new total to-date of $57.2 million. Watch for the costly remake to finish in the neighborhood of $65 million.
Ninth and tenth spots went to two more films from Twentieth Century Fox. Family hit The Tooth Fairy extracted $3.45 million (off 21%) for a new total of $54 million to date. In tenth spot was Oscar-nominee Crazy Heart with a $2.54 million gross and a $25 million total to date. Watch for that film to receive a bit of a bump in sales in the next couple of weeks should star Jeff Bridges win Best Actor next Sunday night.
Aside from Alice, next weekend brings the release of the ensemble crime drama Brooklyn’s Finest starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. Predict what these films will make next weekend for a chance at Blu-ray prizes in our Weekend Box Office Prophet game.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
