Box Office: Who Wants WALL-E?

Steve Carell scored big this week recreating the role of Agent Maxwell Smart in Get Smart, providing the best opening weekend ever for a film with Carell in the lead. The Incredible Hulk fell into second place for its second week but Hulk and Kung Fu Panda both outdid last week's other new release The Love Guru. Here are the totals:

1. Get Smart: $38.6 million
2. The Incredible Hulk: $22.1 million
3. Kung Fu Panda: $21.9 million
4. The Love Guru: $13.9 million
5. The Happening: $10.5 million

Two wide releases this week, a heartwarming comedy for the whole family and a stylized action adventure shoot-em-up for the older crowd.

WALL-E
What's It All About: Disney/Pixar is back with the tale of a lovable sentient trash compactor. WALL-E has been alone on the abandoned Planet Earth for hundreds of years, but he discovers a new purpose when he meets a robot named EVE. Apparently WALL-E has stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, a solution which the human race eagerly awaits.
Why It Might Do Well: The trailers look promising and WALL-E is written and directed by Andrew Stanton, who served in the same capacity on Finding Nemo, Pixar's most financially successful film to date. Plus, our star has the cute going on.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov described a condition called The Frankenstein Complex, which is a fear of robots -- but look at the little guy. Did I mention he's cute? This is easily next week's number one flick.
Number of Theaters: 3,900
Prediction: $70 million



Wanted
What's It All About: A cubicle-working nobody named Wes Gibson (James McAvoy) learns his estranged father was a member of an elite squad of assassins and has recently died in the line of duty. A woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie), a colleague of Wes's Dad, recruits the young man into the fold, bringing out the innate abilities he inherited from his father.
Why It Might Do Well: While the story seems to take quite a few liberties with the graphic novel on which it is based, this looks to be an eye-popping piece of Grade-A Summer eye candy, and an 83% rating over at Rottentomatoes.com would seem to confirm this.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Unless a lot of people have issues with full-lipped tattooed women, I think this will still do pretty well.
Number of Theaters: 3,100
Prediction: $39 million

Next week's top five seems pretty straightforward, with the two newbies taking the top spots and pushing this week's top three back.
1. WALL-E
2. Wanted
3. Get Smart
4. The Incredible Hulk
5. Kung Fu Panda

Only two perfect scores this week, so congratulations to Annie and I Eat Robots. I had expected Mike Myers' The Love Guru to do better which is what threw my prediction off. Perhaps this week glory will be mine. Here's how we all did:

1. Annie: 16
1. I Eat Robots: 16
2. Matt: 12
2. zach: 12
2. dana: 12
2. Brent Todd: 12
2. AJ Wiley: 12
2. Chris: 12
3. peter: 11
4. Alex Farquharson: 10
4. Awesomepants: 10
4. Gregory Rubinstein: 10
4. Bradford Oman: 10
4. Jessejames: 10
4. cough: 10
4. Smiggy: 10
4. airtoast: 10
5. Phil: 9
5. Prateek S.: 9
6. Erin: 7
6. Ray: 7
6. Mario: 7
7. joits: 6
8. kevjohn: 4
8. DarkAgair: 4

Think you've got some insight into how next week's top five will play out? Share it with us. Post your predictions for the top five movies in the comments section below before 5:00PM Eastern Time on Friday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.