Over the usually quiet Super Bowl weekend, moviegoers opted for Euro-tinged asskicking, sending actioner “Taken” to a $24.6 million gross, well above projections and proof that star Liam Neeson is in those respectable older man stage where audiences will watch you do any stupid shit (see: “The Bucket List”). “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” fell to #2 but still held well enough to score $14 mil. to bring it’s cume (Varietyspeak for “Cumulus cloud”) to $83 million. America, I thought 2009 was gonna be the year we start doing things right- eating well, calling your parents more, avoiding Happy Madison productions. And here we are, the fridge is filled with cookies, your parents know nothing about your new boyfriend, and “Paul Blart” is getting a sequel. Just great.
“The Uninvited,” a remake of the Korean film “A Tale Of Two Sisters,” got surprisingly decent reviews but didn’t have much steam, clocking in at #3 with $10.5 million. Meanwhile, as expected, legs for “Hotel For Dogs” and “Gran Torino.” “Hotel” is probably clocked out by next weekend with competition from “Pink Panther 2” and “Coraline,” but expect more mileage for sexual tyrannosaur Clint Eastwood, who’s racked up $110 million so far for his ode to being so old and racist you have vericose veins showing epithets written in hieroglyphics. It should be a surprise that $6.8 million worth of people felt that “New In Town” wasn’t the tiresome, forgettable slop it looked like, as the Renee Zellweger comedy provided counterprogramming to “anything else worth a damn” and opened at #8.
“Slumdog Millionaire” might play long into the Oscar season and slightly beyond as it picks up awards heat. $7.7 million this weekend, $67 million overall, and with plenty of time to go, $90, or even $100 million is a possibility- I’m pretty sure Danny Boyle isn’t going to be doing that third “28 Days Later” movie now. No such support shown for the other Oscar nominees, none of which have broken into the top ten again, but “Milk” has many theaters to continue its expansion, and at $23 million, it’s safely the third highest grossing Best Picture candidate. The thing about these prestige movies is that they are, by and large, date movies (especially amongst this facile, dull collection of nominations), so expect them all to take an even bigger hit when Frankenstein romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That into You” opens next week.
1. Taken- $24.6 million
2. Kevin James’ Faustian Bargain- $14 million
3. The Uninvited- $10.5 million
4. Holiday Inn Express For Dogs- $8.7 million
5. Dirty Harry XIV- $8.6 million
6. Slumdog Millionaire- $7.7 million
7. Underworld: Oh, You’re Still Here- $7.2 million
8. New In Town- $6.8 million
9. My Bloody Valentine 3D- $4.3 million
10. Inkheart- $3.7 million