Surprising me, but not many other analysts (not that I would term myself an analyst, exactly), American Gangster took the top spot as it did its part to reinvigorate the box office. The long storied production opened with an estimated $46.3 million tally, easily taking the top spot this week. The film did this despite a runtime that was north of two and a half hours, an R rating, and strong competition from a new family film. It will be interesting to see how well it holds up in the weeks to come, and how the Oscar voters react to it.
Coming in a strong second place was Jerry Seinfeld's return vehicle, Bee Movie. It proved to be a strong second with an estimated $39 million. The amount of entertainment that you derive will be based on just how much you enjoy Seinfeld's comedy as the first half is filled with a lot of his brand of humor (he was one of the writer's after all). I would have to say that the one downfall of the film is the conformist "lesson" that it espouses. Still, there were many laughs to be had and the animation was really quite good.
One other new film arrived on the top ten this weekend. The John Cusack starring family drama, Martian Child, opened to a lukewarm reaction from cinema-goers. It finished in seventh place with a tepid $3.4 million. I expected a bit more out of this, but after seeing it I am not surprised by the response. It pours on the melodrama but never really takes flight. The script just wasn't there, so even the best efforts of John Cusack are not enough.
Among the returning films, both Dan in Real Life and The Game Plan both displayed good holds, with drops in the low 30% range. Both of them are worth seeing on the big screen, and it seems that while neither is burning up the charts, they have both found an audience and people keep coming to see it. I have seen them both and they are good.
On the other side of the coin there is last week's top film, Saw IV, drop over 67% from its opening frame. It is a huge drop, but honestly, who didn't see that coming? Movies like this are completely front loaded and will always do most of their business in that opening weekend.
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