Weekend Box Office: Hostel tops Narnia and we're all going to hell

As expected, the end of the holiday weekend brought major box office declines to last week's leaders: The Chronicles of Narnia dropped 40% to $15.4 million, enough to keep it in second place, and King Kong's take went down a full 50%, leaving it in the third spot with $12.5 million. Topping the box office, however, and making it clear that American movie-goers are frightening people, was Hostel, which took in $20.1 on its opening weekend. Based on the opening, it appears as if Lionsgate, the independent distributor that found a gold mine with the Saw movies, has yet another sneak hit on its hands.

As opposed to Hostel, the other two new films this weekend - BloodRayne and Grandma's Boy - both did horrible business and finished outside the top ten. Grandma's Boy took in just $2.9 million, more than $1.5 million behind The Family Stone, which held down the tenth spot. Meanwhile, BloodRayne's open was reportedly an unmitigated disaster: instead of the announced 1915 theaters, it ended up showing on less than 1000 screens and seems to have made barely $1 million. In addition, hundreds of theaters reported receiving prints of the film that they didn't order; needless to say, they refused to screen them. Yikes. Not exactly an illustrious start for Romar, the new indie company that is distributing the film. Full numbers after the jump.
1.     Hostel - $20.1 million
2.     The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - $15.4 million
3.     King Kong - $12.5 million
4.     Fun With Dick and Jane - $12.2 million
5.     Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - $8.3 million
6.     Munich - $7.5 million
7.     Memoirs of a Geisha - $6.0 million
8.     Rumor Has It - $5.9 million
9.     Brokeback Mountain - $5.8 million
10.   The Family Stone - $4.6 million