Jumper succeeded in jumping right to the head of the class in its first weekend out, handily topping all of the new and returning competition. It successfully fended off the advances of more "date-friendly" fare en route to a healthy $27.3 million opening weekend. Whether or not that will hold up next week is yet to be seen. Considering how non-plussed I was exiting the theater, I will be hard pressed to believe it will do all that well in week two. The movie, while not without its charms, is a scatter shot exercise in teen-centric action/sci-fi. It seemed to want to build up this epic battle with expansive internal continuity. The problem is that they failed to let the writers in on that idea and the end result was not all that successful. Perhaps if a sequel is green lit we will see what was supposed to happen here.

Following Jumper are a couple more new releases this weekend. First is The Spiderwick Chronicles, a child/young teen targeted fantasy based on a popular series of novels (aren't they all?). It seems to have modest aspirations, yet provides a very entertaining film that does not shy away from its darker moments, while also not dwelling on them. It stars Freddie Highmore in a dual role and is directed by Mark Waters. It's opening was just a bit stronger than Step Up 2, which bodes well, that and the fact that it is actually a good movie. I suspect this will fall quicker than the dancing movie, but I hope that it does well if for no other reason than it is a quality film.

The number three film is Step Up 2: The Streets, coming with a potent opening frame and proving that the dance genre has some good life in it (despite the lackluster showing of How She Move). It opened strong with near $19 million. I saw the film and can attest to the brainless fun it provides and can understand the popularity of this type of film despite not being their biggest proponent. I suspect that this will hold well over the next couple of weeks.

There is one other new release on the top ten this week, Definitely, Maybe lands at number five. I actually expected a stronger opening from the romantic comedy, especially considering we just passed Valentine's Day. I was wrong in thinking that, obviously. However, that does not change the fact that it is a very good romance, one that made this softy inexplicably get a little dusty in the theater. It provides the maturation of Van Wilder into a more bankable star, time will tell if this proves to be a stepping stone to the A list.