Film Weekend Per Total
1 How to Train Your Dragon $15,025,000 (-23.5%) $4,100 $178,021,000
2 The Back-Up Plan $12,250,000 $3,735 $12,250,000
3 Date Night $10,600,000 (-36.6%) $3,218 $63,471,000
4 The Losers $9,605,000 $3,271 $9,605,000
5 Kick-Ass $9,500,000 (-52.1%) $3,100 $34,870,000
6 Clash of the Titans $9,000,000 (-41.5%) $2,751 $145,639,000
7 Death at a Funeral $8,000,000 (-50.7%) $3,253 $28,449,000
8 Oceans $6,000,000 $4,975 $8,466,000
9 The Last Song $3,700,000 (-37.9%) $1,324 $55,398,000
10 Alice in Wonderland $2,200,000 (-39.8%) $1,588 $327,473,000

This just in: I hear Friendster is the new retro hotness. Like being into 8-tracks.

Often the first few months have residual heat from the Christmas pictures, and it used to be that Academy pictures would start expanding during the first months. But – for the most part – it’s usually a weak season until March brings the heat. This year we had Avatar, and so this weekend is the lowest grossing weekend of the year, and the first to not have the top ten cross into the nine digit territory. That’s better for theaters than studios in that they want a constant steady stream, whereas Warner Bothers still might take a loss on The Losers.
 
On that last point, it’s hard to say if either The Losers or The Back-Up Plan will turn a profit. Both were done for budgets, though The Losers has slightly more international potential, while The Back-Up Plan has better odds at playing longer. Neither did enough business to suggest anything more than that people went because it was new. Ultimately it doesn’t feel like much is at stake fiscally for either, though Sylvain White may have some heat off, and whatever’s next might not go as fast (I thought the movie might cause some director-jail time, but they didn’t have a lot of time or money), and CBS films – between this and “I already work around the clock!” – seems to exist to waste money.

How to Train Your Dragon is an audience favorite, and getting past $200 is not going to be a question since it should play into Shrek 4. Fox seems to have interest in getting Date Night to a good number, so I bet it gets past $80 or $90 for no apparent reason. Kick-Ass not dropping 60% is a miracle, though doing much over $50 is a dream. Clash of the Titans is still doing some business, so it could get its way to $170, but that’s about it. Chris Rock didn’t put the fun in Funeral, but doing a bit over $40 is looking like an endgame.

Next weekend Nightmare on Elm Street will open huge, and provide itself as an appetizer to what looks to be one of the worst starts of summer since 2007. Remember then, when Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, and Shrek 3 came out and they were all mixed to terrible? The five big pictures of May are Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, Shrek 4, Prince of Persia and Sex and the City 2. Four of these pictures have screened and of the May titles I’m probably most excited about MacGruber.