|
Rank
|
Title
|
Weekend
Gross |
Cumulative
Gross |
Weeks in
Release |
|
1
|
Night at the Museum
|
$24,000,000
|
$164,097,000
|
3
|
|
2
|
The Pursuit of Happyness |
$13,000,000
|
$124,159,000
|
4
|
|
3
|
Children of Men |
$10,295,000
|
$11,902,000
|
2
|
|
4
|
Freedom Writers |
$9,705,000
|
$9,705,000
|
1
|
|
5
|
$8,825,000
|
$54,484,000
|
4
|
|
|
6
|
Happily N’ever After
|
$6,800,000
|
$6,800,000
|
1
|
|
7
|
Charlotte’s Web
|
$6,610,000
|
$66,975,000
|
4
|
|
8
|
$6,536,000
|
$48,434,000
|
3
|
|
|
9
|
$6,268,000
|
$60,892,000
|
3
|
|
|
10
|
We Are Marshall |
$5,135,000
|
$35,425,000
|
3 |
This weekend’s Box Office didn’t do much in the way of surprises, but yielded some good news and, depending on your level of loathing for family films and your patience level for Ben Stiller these days, bad news. In good news, it looks like Cedric the Entertainer’s reign of terror is over. The bad news is for anti-Stillerians. Night at the Museum can not be stopped. Or contained. Or rationalized.
Indeed, there was zero movement in the top two, as Night at the Museum and The Pursuit of Happyness placated American audiences for the third straight week. Well received in its limited release last week, Children of Men was widely unleashed upon the rest of you this weekend and took the third spot, yet did less than half of Museum. Teachers can make a difference (even if the title of the movie is dumb) Freedom Writers opened at fourth place, with overkill on musical biopics dropping Dreamgirls two spots to number five. (If that description wasn’t Kasey Kasem enough for you, I’m just getting started.)
Happily “We can be Shrek-ey too!” N’ever After, got what it deserved as it debuted at a "saw that coming" number six. Charlotte’s Web, The Good Shepherd, Rocky Balboa and We are Marshall all tumbled back a few spots to fill out the top ten.
As for that good news, Cedric the Entertainer’s (writing self-proclaimed monikers makes my IBS flare up… if I had it) may have pals in Hollywood, but not the American public. His new film Codename: The Cleaner, was left cleaning up its own pile of crap in stall number 11. Cleaner we never even knew ye. Good day, sir!
In the mean time— studios must know if they want to have a movie do well, it must receive hype outside the film elite crowd. Yet all the films this weekend followed a typical January-style dumping: come out of nowhere for the general movie-going public with a few opening week TV spots and a Friday open. Most deserved what they got. Children of Men, with its critical acclaim in limited release, deserved better.