In the latter half of the top ten, the big story is Ponyo, the latest from Hayao Miyazaki. I do not think it tops his best work, but there is no denying this is a special film. The story is simple on the surface yet contains a lot of details that allow for closer inspection. The animation is beautiful and filled with great detail. It is also the biggest and widest opening for a Miyazaki film. I encourage you all to go see this before it disappears.
Next week will see the arrival of Quentin Tarantino's new film Inglorious Basterds. That is a film I am really looking forward to! We also get to see Post Grad starring Alexis Bledel, Robert Rodriguez's latest family film Shorts, and a special 3D film on ESPN's X-Games.
Four movies dropped off the top ten this week: (500) Days of Summer (11), A Perfect Getaway (12), Orphan (15), and Aliens in the Attic (17).
| This Week | Last Week | Title | Wknd Gross | Overall | Week in release |
| 1 | N | District 9 | $37,354,308 | $37,354,308 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | $22,324,341 | $98,577,529 | 2 |
| 3 | N | The Time Traveler | $18,623,171 | $18,623,171 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | Julie & Julia | $12,055,918 | $43,340,386 | 2 |
| 5 | 3 | G-Force | $6,915,642 | $99,056,616 | 4 |
| 6 | N | The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard. | $5,642,137 | $5,642,137 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | $5,141,072 | $283,879,025 | 5 |
| 8 | 6 | The Ugly Truth | $4,448,232 | $77,450,118 | 4 |
| 9 | N | Ponyo | $3,585,852 | $3,585,852 | 1 |
| 10 | 9 | Funny People | $3,010,755 | $47,910,620 | 5 |
Box Office Predictions Recap
I did not have a great weekend, but where I was on, I was really on. I underestimated District 9, a fact I am very happy about. Who would have thought it would do so well? Clearly I didn't. A couple other goofs are The Goods, which I figured would do almost triple what it actually did. I figured the ads and following up The Hangover would drive it to a good start. I was wrong, and again I am glad. Then there is Bandslam, a title I figured would bring out the tweens. I was wrong as it failed to crack the top ten. The other seven titles on the list were spot on, or very close to it. It is an interesting chart to look at, that I can have such good and bad guesses in the same week.
Here is how the field matched up:
| Actual | Prediction | Title | Wknd Gross | Prediction |
| 1 | 1 | District 9 | $37,354,308 | $28 million |
| 2 | 2 | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | $22,324,341 | $24 million |
|
3 |
3 | The Time Traveler's Wife | $18,623,171 | $18.5 million |
| 6 | 4 | The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard | $5,642,137 | $15 million |
| 4 | 5 | Julie & Julia | $12,055,918 |
$11 million |
| 13 | 6 | Bandslam | $2,231,273 | $7 million |
| 5 | 7 | G-Force | $6,915,642 | $6 million |
| 7 | 8 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | $5,141,072 | $5 million |
| 9 | 9 | Ponyo | $3,585,852 | $4 million |
| 10 | 10 | Funny People | $3,010,755 | $3.5 million |
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