Rank
Title
Weekend
Gross
Cumulative
Gross
Weeks in Release
1

Flightplan
$15,000,000

$46,100,000
2
2

Serenity
$10,100,000

$10,100,000
1
3

Corpse Bride

$9,700,000

$32,900,000
3
4

A History of Violence
$8,200,000

$8,900,000
2
5

Into the Blue
$7,000,000

$7,000,000
1
6

Just Like Heaven
$6,100,000

$38,300,000
3
7

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

$4,400,000

$68,500,000
4
8

Roll Bounce
$4,000,000
$12,600,000
2
9

The Greatest Game Ever Played
$3,700,000
$3,700,000
1
10

The 40 Year Old Virgin
$,100,000
$101,300,000
7

Despite being grounded by critics, Jodie Foster’s Flightplan soared past the competition for a second week in the air (enough already with the plane analogies, Dave).  Joss Whedon’s feature spinoff of his terminated Firefly series didn’t extend far beyond his galaxy of dedicated fans, and Devin already delineated possible causes of this lack of box office impact RIGHT HERE. 

Even buoyed by the acting skills of its bronze taut-bodied stars, Into the Blue didn’t make a big splash.  I question the wisdom of opening a movie about near-naked divers soaking tropical sunlight and seeking subaquatic treasure at a time when much of the country is closing their pools and taking the turtlenecks out of storage.  Same with Serenity, a peppy sci-fi flick with space battles and an action chick — how does that not merit at least an August opening? 

A History of Violence spread into wider release and was met with critical response that may find it on nomination lists come award season.  One thing I don’t often mention, and something that most casual readers probably aren’t cognizant of, is "relative success" when using box office figures as a barometer — for example, Flightplan is cruising on nearly 3500 screens while Serenity landed on 2200, and A History of Violence hit just 1500 but had the highest per-screen average on the top 10.  Into the Blue cannonballed onto 2800 screens, so that’s a sinker either way. 

Next weekend puts even more new challengers on the playing field, with the restaurant comedy Waiting, the claymation movie Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the Cameron Diaz drama In Her Shoes, and the Pacino/McConaughey bookie flick Two for the Money.