What can I say other than "Wow!" Who would have thought that the Will Smith starring I Am Legend would have been greeted with such enthusiasm. I guess last week's disappointment in The Golden Compass helped pave the way for this weekend's success. Of course, Will Smith and an action film will likely always have a wider appeal than a fantasy film. Especially when said fantasy fails to pay off on the wonder and excitement that the trailers promise.

I Am Legend opened to the tune of $77.2 million. This extraordinary take makes it the largest December opening ever, beating out 2004's Return of the King. It is also the fourth biggest opening mark of 2007, and the highest for a non-sequel (the top openings this year belong to Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End). The movie really delivered where no other film has been able to in recent weeks and helps to further cement Will Smith's superstar status. Smith is on his way to tie the record of consecutive $100 million films at seven, he is tied with Tom Hanks at this mark. As for the film? Well, I have not yet written my review, but it was better than I was expecting and was strong throughout until the end. Keep an eye out for my forthcoming review.

The number two movie was Alvin and the Chipmunks, another new release this weekend and another film to outdo its estimates. It opened with a spectacular $44.3 million. It is also the first broad spectrum family film to debut since Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium opened on November 16th and proceeded to whither. Alvin is another film I have seen but not yet written a review for. Suffice to say, I was ready to truly dislike the film. I was happy to discover that it was actually pretty good. The effects were good and the story actually worked. Not to mention the crowd I saw it with was really into it. This film will likely benefit from strong word of mouth and keep the families coming out over the next couple of weekends.

At the other end of the spectrum, The Golden Compass opened last week at number one, although it was considerably weaker than was expected and what New Line had hoped for. It's second weekend take is no consolation as it dropped a massive 65% and is on its way to producing a huge loss for the studio. It doesn't help that the movie is less than impressive. If it continues its current track, it will be lucky to reach $70 million, and that is against a budget said to be in the $200 million vicinity.