The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Be sure to check back on Monday for final figures based on actual box office.
It was another dismal weekend at the box office, marred by the most new movies in wide release in a long time (seven) with another one expanding wider, few of them really breaking out, and it's a bigger shame when the movie that brings in the most business per-theatre in the top 10 is a 3D reissue of a movie that's nearly 14 years old. (More on that below.)
Still, the Sam Raimi produced vampire flick 30 Days of Night (Sony), based on the popular graphic novel, came out in first place as expected with an estimated $16 million in 2,855 theatres. The Josh Hartnett led horror-thriller averaged $5,604 per theatre, which is good but not great compared to other horror movies opening in October.
The only other new movie to get into the Top 5 was Ben Affleck's directorial debut
Gone Baby Gone (Miramax), which grossed $6 million in 1,713 theatres, scoring the second highest per-theatre for the new releases. (Other studios have claimed that Miramax are overestimating the movie to get into the Top 5.)
For the most part, moviegoers stuck to some of the returning movies such as last week's top movie Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate), which brought in an estimated $12.1 million in its second weekend, a drop of 43%. Perry's fourth feature has grossed $38.8 million after ten days in theatres.
Dropping to third place, The Rock's family comedy The Game Plan (Disney) continued its successful run, taking in $8.1 million in its fourth weekend to bring its total to just under $70 milllion.
After what some considered a disappointing nationwide expansion last week, Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.) retained its fourth place showing with a second weekend gross of $7.1 million, bringing its total to $22 million.
Gone Baby Gone (Miramax) opened in 5th place, followed by the new sports comedy The Comebacks (Fox Atomic) with $5.8 million in sixth place, although it might be a close race decided by actuals.
James Gray's crime drama We Own the Night (Sony), starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg, dropped 49% in its second weekend, crashing from #3 to #7 with a running total of $19.8 million.
As hinted at above, the rerelease of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3D into roughly 400 more theatres than its 2006 release, grossed $5.1 million in those 564 specially-equipped theatres.
Two adult-targetted dramas failed to find their mark as the political thriller Rendition (New Line) opened to a disappointing $4.2 million in 2,250 theatres--an average of $9100 per-theatre--to take ninth place.
Sadly, Susanne Bier's English language debut Things We Lost in the Fire (DreamWorks), starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, grossed $1.6 million in 1,142 theatres, falling well short of the Top 10.
Opening in far more theatres than reasonable, both Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour (Freestyle) and The Ten Commandments tanked, Sarah Landon making $560 thousand in 1,115 theatres and The Ten Commandments making $474 thousand in 830 theatres. Their per-theatre averages of $499 and 579 respectively are some of the worst for movies opening in over 800 theatres.
Opening in limited release, Terry George's drama Reservation Road (Focus Features) also suffered from the glut of adult dramas in theatres, grossing just $36 thousand in 14 theatres.
The Top 10 movies grossed an estimated $74 million down 10% from the same weekend last year.
