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.
This was a weekend for writer/directors to shine, but while there was a lot of star power on display in many of the new movies, it was the latest from playwright-mogul Tyler Perry that was able to bring in the biggest audience of his female African-American fans to see his third movie as a director, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate). Featuring the return of Janet Jackson to the big screen for the first time since 2000's Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Perry's latest play-turned-movie grossed an estimated $21.5 million its opening weekend in just 2,011 theatres, fewer than his previous two movies.
Tony Gilroy's corporate thriller Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.), starring George Clooney, came out just ahead of James Gray's third film, the police drama We Own the Night (Sony) starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg, both which ended up with roughly $11 million. Neither of the two new movies from respected writer/directors was able to keep The Rock's family film The Game Plan (Disney) from having a third strong weekend, dropping to #2 with $11.6 million.
Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal), which returned Cate Blanchett to the role of the legendary British queen, followed up its lukewarm to hateful reviews with a disappointing opening in sixth place with just $6.2 million in 2,001 theatres.
The Ben Stiller and Farrelly Brothers comedy remake of The Heartbreak Kid (DreamWorks), which had a disappointing opening weekend, didn't hold up much better in week 2, dropping 47% to fifth place with a 2nd weekend take of $7.4 million. After two weeks, it's grossed $26 million, less than a normal Stiller opening weekend.
Peter Berg's political thriller The Kingdom (Universal), starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner, dropped to seventh with $4.6 million, having grossed just under $40 million after three weeks.
Julie Taymor's Beatles musical Across the Universe (Sony) tripled its theatres on Friday and made a stronger play into the Top 10, placing eighth with an impressive $4 million, and a total gross of $12.9 million.
Sony/Screen Gems' action threequel Resident Evil: Extinction dropped five places to #9 with $2.6 million and a total gross of $48 million.
Opening well outside the Top 10, the Sean Astin produced baseball drama The Final Season made $665 thousand in 1,011 theatres, a pathetic per-theatre average of $657, which means it won't be around long to find an audience.
Opening in 7 theatres in New York and L.A., Lars and the Real Girl (MGM) starring Ryan Gosling, grossed $85,000, an average of $12,000 per theatre, while in two more theatres, the Jude Law-Michael Caine reworking of the '72 thriller Sleuth (Sony Classics) grossed $50,000. Anton Corbijn's Joy Division biopic Control opened at New York's Film Forum on Wednesday where it grossed $27,000 over the weekend.
The box office was still down 15% from last year where the Top 10 grossed $95 million, but it was less of a drop than last weekend and signs that the box office is not completely doomed for the month.
Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films.
