| Film | 3-day | Per | All | |
| 1 | Saturday the 14th | $42,245,000 | $13,605 | $42,245,000 |
| 2 | He’s Just Not That Into You | $19,610,000 (-29.4%) | $6,176 | $55,078,000 |
| 3 | Taken | $19,250,000 (-6.3%) | $6,192 | $77,925,000 |
| 4 | Confessions of a Shopaholic | $15,406,000 | $6,145 | $15,406,000 |
| 5 | Coraline | $15,323,000 (-9.1%) | $6,605 | $35,585,000 |
| 6 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop | $11,700,000 (+7.5%) | $3,946 | $110,515,000 |
| 7 | The International | $10,000,000 | $4,230 | $10,000,000 |
| 8 | The Pink Panther 2 | $9,000,000 (-22.3%) | $2,773 | $22,321,000 |
| 9 | Slumdog Millionaire | $7,150,000 (-0.4%) | $4,376 | $86,546,000 |
| 10 | Push | $6,931,000 (-31.2%) | $2,997 | $19,325,000 |
This just in: A copy of De La Soul is Dead. And it says “Hey, how you doin’, sorry you can’t get through, why don’t you leave your name and your number, and I’ll get back to you.”
The top ten is up $35 million from the same weekend last year. There are two ways to look at these numbers. One is positively. It’s a holiday weekend, so people are going to the movies. Summer and Fall are no longer the hotbed of cinema, as Taken, MC Paul Blart, Friday the 13th, and Gran Torino are either nine digit pictures, or will eventually be nine-digit pictures. And He’s Just Not That In To You looks to be scraping that when it’s all said and done. Coraline is also looking healthy for what it is. Though I don’t know if these films would be as competitive if they were released in the midst of a summer rush, currently the calendar is no longer calling the shots on how big something can be. The negative is that it does nothing but reinforce the sense that we are in a horrible depression, and that people are reacting as people did in the 30’s. People want to go out of their houses and leave their cares and woes behind. So buy stocks in liquor, folks, cause it’s not going to get any easier for a while.
Friday the 13th may finish tomorrow at $50. I wonder if Coraline or He’s Just Not That In to You got a bump from kids buying tickets for them, and exiting stage right. Devin has suggested that this means the slasher film is back, but I don’t know, it may mean slasher remakes are back, which is the same thing but different. My Bloody Valentine got over $50 this weekend, so it’s considered a success, but how low can you go and still have the name value? I don’t think they’d remake Maniac, or The Burning. But you never know. The film was cheap enough, but I’ve heard that the advertising wasn’t. If this were normal, and even with coming off the holiday weekend, a 60% drop would be expected, but I bet it holds closer to 50% next week as I don’t think Fired Up will challenge it, though there might be some overlap with the Madea audience.
He’s Just Not That In To You and Taken and Coraline all held like champs, though the bigger winner in that regard is Slumdog Millionaire, which managed to drop less than a half a percent. But Paul Blart, it didn’t even drop, it went up. I’ve been following the numbers for a while now. When I tell you shit’s weird, believe me, shit’s fucking weird right now. Taken is looking like a phenomenon, though I don’t know if you can kidnap his daughter again for Taken 2. I’m sure they’re working on it, though. It’ll be like those Death Wish sequels were more obscure family members get offed so Paul Kersey can get into killing mode. And these great numbers I think helped Pink Panther and Push, which were not exactly accepted by the audience, but managed to not fall too terribly.
Coming out of The Wedding Crashers, Isla Fisher looked to be a star in the making. Then again, so did Rachel McAdams. What happened on that set? WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT SET? The opening of her Shopaholic is not terrible, considering her prolonged absence (she did have a baby with Borat), but it may be the sort of thing that helps her next picture if people like this one. I don’t know if people do like Shopaholic yet, but if this holds like these other pictures have been, it might be the worst idea in the world to get in the Isla Fisher business.
Speaking of Valentine’s Day, for the love of god, don’t watch this.
The International got eated ( (c) Eschaton) probably by Taken. Then again, poor critical word, mixed with the “eh” of the whole thing didn’t help. On the plus side, it opened bigger than Shoot ‘Em Up, so perhaps Clive Owen’s star Q is rising, three feet high and. Sorry, I’m in a Buhloone Mindstate.Tomorrow should also add some healthy numbers for those off of work. For those who are working, I say “fuck you, bastards.”