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‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ is #1 at the box office, again?

By Pau Brunet

2009/01/26 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ is #1 at the box office, again?

01.26.2009 | By Pau Brunet |

What is this world coming to?

Is Kevin James the new Will Smith? He has just proved he has some cred. In its second frame, Paul Blart: Mall Cop was able to take down the favorite to win, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and hold onto the number one spot.

Mall Cop continues to beat out expectations in its second frame by declining a miniscule 32% to earn another $21.5 million over the weekend. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans followed at number two with $20.7 million.

While the number is still strong, Lycans is the worst opening we’ve seen from the franchise. The first Underworld bowed to $21.8 million and the sequel, Underworld: Evolution, saw a boost with $26.9 million. While I’m sure Sony will find a way to spin a reason for the drop in ticket sales, we can all assume that an Underworld installment lacking in Kate Beckinsale just didn’t feel right. Lycans cost $35 million to produce, so Sony should have no problem earning some positive cash flows with what should be the franchise’s final installment.

Probably the biggest disappointment was Inkheart. New Line’s latest attempt at fantasy, the family adventure was only able to gross $7.7 million in its opening bow. With a strong cast and a family audience, this film should have done much, much better.

“We’re disappointed. We wish the opening would have been bigger, but I think it was always going to be this type of result. Unfortunately, the audience wasn’t excited to see it,” said Warner exec VP of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein.

The final film worth a mention is Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. Though the film didn’t get the love that many hoped from the Oscar nominations, Gran Torino was still able to hold onto the number three spot over the weekend after declining only 27% from the last frame. Tack on the latest earnings of $16 million and the film is close to jumping the $100 million mark. By next weekend it looks like Gran Torino will quickly become Clint Eastwood’s highest grossing film for both directing and acting.

Here’s the estimated ticket sales for Friday through yesterda.

1. Paul Blart: Mall Cop, $21.5 million

2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, $20.7 million

3. Gran Torino, $16 million

4. Hotel for Dogs, $12.4 million

5. Slumdog Millionaire, $10.6 million

6. My Bloody Valentine 3D, $10.1 million

7. Inkheart, $7.7 million

8. Bride Wars, $7 million

9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, $6 million

10. Notorious, $5.7 million

Pooch film ‘Marley and Me’ barks to #1 at the box office

By Mack Chico

2008/12/29 at 12:00am

Movies

Pooch film ‘Marley and Me’ barks to #1 at the box office

12.29.2008 | By Mack Chico |

“Marley & Me,” the story of a mischievous dog who grows up alongside the young couple who owns him, made $37 million in sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters, emerging as the top film in one of Hollywood’s most-competitive weekends.

“Bedtime Stories,” starring Adam Sandler, finished second with $28.1 million, box-office tracker Media By Numbers LLC said today in an e-mailed statement. Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” debuted in third place with $27 million.

‘Benjamin Button’

Christmas ranks among the busiest times for Hollywood studios in terms of new releases, making this holiday weekend among the most competitive, Media By Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian said in an interview.

Second place’s “Bedtime Stories” stars Sandler as a father whose nighttime tales come to life. It will surpass $100 million in sales, which will be the second Sandler film this year to do so, after “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” Pandya said.

“Benjamin Button,” which finished third, is the tale of a man who ages in reverse and is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film has garnered five Golden Globe nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, including best drama and best actor. The Paramount Pictures movie cost about $150 million, according to Internet Movie Database Inc.

‘Valkyrie’

Also debuting this week was Tom Cruise in “Valkyrie,” the story of a German officer in World War II who leads a group trying to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The movie, the second from Metro Goldwyn Mayer Inc.’s United Artists studio, opened in fourth place with $21.5 million. The cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson.

Last weekend’s No. 1 movie, “Yes Man” from Time Warner, slid to fifth with $16.5 million. Jim Carrey plays a man who transforms his humdrum life by saying “yes” at every opportunity for a year. It has made $49.6 million in two weeks of release.

Rounding out the top 10 in sixth through 10th places, respectively, were “Seven Pounds,” from Sony Corp., at $13.4 million; “The Tale of Despereaux” from General Electric Co.’s Universal Pictures with $9.37 million; Fox’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still” at $7.9 million; “The Spirit,” from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., opened ninth with $6.51 million; and Disney Miramax’s “Doubt” finished in 10th with $5.68 million.

Receipts for the top 12 movies rose 7.6 percent to $182.5 million from the year-earlier period, Los Angeles-based Media By Numbers said. For the year, box-office sales have dropped 0.9 percent to $9.55 billion. Year-to-date attendance has declined 5.3 percent.

The following table has figures provided by studios to Media By Numbers. The amounts are based on gross ticket sales from Dec. 26 and yesterday and estimates for today.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua is tops at the box-office

By Mack Chico

2008/10/06 at 12:00am

Movies

Beverly Hills Chihuahua is tops at the box-office

10.6.2008 | By Mack Chico |

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” was barking up the right tree with movie-goers, who put the Disney comedy at No. 1 for the weekend with a $29 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Featuring a talking Chihuahua with Drew Barrymore’s voice, the family flick about a pampered pooch lost in Mexico led a surge of new movies that boosted Hollywood business, which generally has slumped the last two months.

The top-12 movies hauled in $95.4 million, up 42 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when “The Game Plan” was No. 1 with $16.6 million.

The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, the DreamWorks-Paramount thriller “Eagle Eye,” slipped to second-place with $17.7 million, raising its total to $54.6 million.

The PG-rated “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” took advantage of a long drought for movies aimed at families, who found the idea of a chatty Chihuahua irresistible.

Hollywood’s other new wide releases had fair to poor premieres.

Sony’s “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings as teens who fall for each other on a wild New York City night, had a sturdy No. 3 debut of $12 million.

The Warner Bros. Western “Appaloosa,” which had played two weeks in a handful of theaters, expanded solidly to come in at No. 5 with $5 million. “Appaloosa” was directed by Ed Harris, who stars with Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger.

Vivendi Entertainment’s “An American Carol,” a satire of Hollywood’s liberal politics from director David Zucker (“Airplane!”), debuted at No. 9 with $3.8 million. The movie stars Kevin Farley as a Michael Moore-type filmmaker aiming to abolish the Fourth of July holiday.

Universal’s “Flash of Genius,” starring Greg Kinnear as the engineer who invented intermittent windshield wipers then spent decades suing automakers over the innovation, opened weakly with $2.3 million, finishing at No. 11.

Two other movies, the comedy “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” and the apocalyptic “Blindness,” both bombed.

Miramax’s “Blindness,” featuring Julianne Moore, Danny Glover and Mark Ruffalo in a nightmare tale about a plague of sightlessness, took in just $2 million, averaging an anemic $1,185 in 1,690 theaters.

“How to Lose Friends and Alienate People,” released by MGM and starring Kirsten Dunst and Simon Pegg in a celebrity satire set at a slick magazine, did $1.4 million in 1,750 theaters for a feeble $801 average.

By comparison, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” averaged $9,020 in 3,215 theaters; “Nick and Norah” pulled in $4,957 in 2,421 locations; “Appaloosa” did $4,799 in 1,045 cinemas; “An American Carol” took in $2,325 in 1,639 sites; and “Flash of Genius” did $2,120 in 1,098 theaters.

In narrower release, Bill Maher’s documentary “Religulous” opened well, placing No. 10 with $3.5 million in 502 theaters, averaging $6,972. The Lionsgate release follows Maher as he travels the world to mock one of his favorite topics, organized religion.

Anne Hathaway’s “Rachel Getting Married” had a strong start in limited release, taking in $302,934 in nine theaters for a whopping $33,659 average. The Sony Pictures Classics drama stars Hathaway as an addict who leaves rehab to come home for her sister’s wedding and forces her family to relive the anguish of past tragedy.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” $29 million.

2. “Eagle Eye,” $17.7 million.

3. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” $12 million.

4. “Nights in Rodanthe,” $7.4 million.

5. “Appaloosa,” $5 million.

6. “Lakeview Terrace,” $4.5 million.

7. “Burn After Reading,” $4.08 million.

8. “Fireproof,” $4.07 million.

9. “An American Carol,” $3.8 million.

10. Religulous, $3.5 million.