Weekend Box Office: 'Knowing', 'I Love You, Man', 'Duplicity' Line Up at the Top
Filed under: New Releases, Box Office
Nic Cage-heavy advertising propelled Knowing to the top of the box office and a decent $24 million opening weekend, though we'll see what happens once audiences get a load of what this exceedingly weird movie is actually about. The arrival of Monsters vs. Aliens won't help either. I expect at least a 50% drop-off next week.What's interesting about the $18 million bow for I Love You, Man is that I'm pretty sure the movie got an assist from the Judd Apatow brand even though Judd Apatow didn't have a damn thing to do with it. It's Paul Rudd + Jason Segel + tone. People love these clever, raunchy male-fantasy movies, and there's no end in sight. On the other hand, Duplicity may have come off as too smart for the room, as pervasive marketing, Clive Owen and Julia Roberts didn't amount to more than $14 million for Tony Gilroy's film. That's more than Gilroy's Michael Clayton ever made in a weekend, but that movie was platformed.
Watchmen's looking like $115 million at the end of the day. Other holdovers are looking more impressive: Coraline and Madea Goes to Jail are still bumming around the top 10 after seven and five weeks, respectively; the latter is by far Tyler Perry's highest-grossing film, while the former has parlayed a $16 million opening to what will be an $80 million finish.
The full top 10 after the jump.
1 - Knowing (Summit) - $24.81 ($7,447) - $24.81
2 - I Love You, Man (Dreamworks) - $18.01 ($6,641) - $18.01
3 - Duplicity (Universal) - $14.40 ($5,595) - $14.40
4 - Race to Witch Mountain (Disney) - $13.00 ($4,080) - $44.71
5 - Watchmen (Warner Bros.) - $6.72 ($1,916) - $98.07
6 - The Last House on the Left (Universal) - $5.92 - ($2,465) - $24.05
7 - Taken (Fox) - $4.10 ($1,541) - $133.14
8 - Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) - $2.70 ($1,306) - $137.20
9 - Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (Lionsgate) - $2.51 ($1,368) - $87.21
10 - Coraline (Focus) - $2.14 ($1,498) - $72.80
Next week, Monsters vs. Aliens should prove a juggernaut. The buzz on The Haunting in Connecticut isn't great from its SXSW premiere, and 12 Rounds is opening with no screenings and little marketing support.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-22-2009 @ 4:33PM
Ryan said...
Glad to see Slumdog Millionaie still in the top 10 following its much deserved Best Picture win. I can't wait until it passes Juno's $143 million tally to become Fox Searchlights biggest film.
I so hope that Slumdog Millionaire manages to make the Top 10 at least one more week next week. Probably won't happen, but hey the film has already done SO MUCH with critics, audiences, and award shows. Kudos.
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3-23-2009 @ 8:51AM
Kevin said...
"Too smart for the room"? That movie probably didn't do well for the simple reason that it didn't look that interesting or entertaining. Does anyone know how much of a box office draw Julia Roberts is on opening weekend? I'll admit to being to lazy to look it up myself, but she doesn't strike me as the kind of actress that can take a bad movie and catapult it to a 50 mill opening. She's more in line with Nicole Kidman. Good enough actresses that need great source material to hit pay dirt for the film. Based on my own opinion and those of the people coming out of the theater with me (probably about the most representative sample you can find, I know) I would say that Knowing doesn't come off as "weird" but was fairly entertaining and different enough to enjoy positive word of mouth. I wouldn't be shocked by a big drop next week, but thats because big drops are the norm and Monsters should be pretty huge. But I don't think it'll have a huge drop because people didn't like it.
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