Lots of people speculated that the first year of the Obama administration would spark hope, and lead moviegoers attracted to darker rough-and-tumble material to change their mind and align themselves with more pleasant, less-challenging fare. Essentially, liberals subscribing to the better leadership-worse art concept. This weekend was that theory in practice, as moviegoers went with the most familiar choice by far, choosing “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” as the number one movie. The film sold $33.8 million worth of tickets in its first three days, and by now, it’s time to possibly look at frumpy Kevin James as something of a movie star. Not only did he guide his shitty sitcom “The King Of Queens” to stellar ratings even at the end of its improbable nine year run, but he’s got “Hitch” and “I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry” on his resume, so perhaps this number one debut was in the cards. The rotten, shitty cards.
Last week’s number one, “Gran Torino”, slipped to second, but its still kicking some ass and has an outside shot at finishing around $100 million- wonder if Clint will stick to that “one last role” promise after this. The big winner of the weekend might be Fox Searchlight. Opening in a semi-limited release, “Notorious” scored a #4 bow and a $21.5 million take, scoring a with the biggest per-screen average in the top ten. They also have “Slumdog Millionaire” still hanging out at #10, as it used it’s Best Picture win at the Golden Globes to soar past $40 million. Opening at #3 was Lionsgate’s “My Bloody Valentine 3D” with $21.9 million, which some feel underperformed but probably still came close to earning it’s budget back- the unique trend in these 3D affairs as of late is that they seem to have legs and perform over a long period of time, so don’t be surprised to see the picture have a strong hold next weekend.
The new films comfortably outpaced “Hotel For Dogs”, which couldn’t capitalize on the inane dog-movie craze hitting Hollywood, as it collected $17.7 million to land in fifth. Expanding but flopping, Daniel Craig’s “Defiance” clocked in at #8 with $9.2 million and a dismal per-screen average- more and more, it looks like giving big, commercials films slow rollouts is a bad idea, as “Defiance” has been making little noise since it showed up quietly in theaters before the new year’s. “Last Chance Harvey” had a similar fate, opening its wide release berth at #13.
In other news, this was the weekend that both “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” and “Bedtime Stories” crossed the $100 million mark- both meeting dialed-down expectations. After the Globes shutout, “Button” has a few weeks more, but it might be tapped out at $120 mil., which means it will have to haul ass internationally and on DVD to make a profit, while “Stories” is off the usual Sandler success model, but it’s still his tenth $100 million earner (what the fuck, America).
1. Paul Blart: The End Is Fucking Nigh- $33.8 million
2. Get Off My Lawn aka Gran Torino- $22.2 million
3. My Bloody Valentine 3D- $21.9 million
4. Notorious- $21.5 million
5. Hotel For Dogs- $17.7 million
6. Bride Wars- $11.7 million
7. The Unborn- $9.8 million
8. Defiance- $9.2 million
9. Marley and Me- $6.3 million
10. Slumdog Millionaire- $5.9 million