Weekend Box Office

Box office deja vu continues as a handful of films seem unflappably locked into the top spots. Wedding Crashers and Willy Wonka play box office footsie this week, switching places at numbers one and two while new comers Sky High, Stealth and Must Love Dogs are left to bicker over the table scraps.

The big surprise (to my mind anyway) is Stealth's position...directly below Sky High. Both films tried to take to the sky but it seems Stealth was somewhat grounded as the kids crowd turned out stronger than the action fans. I guess back to school boredom is striking hard.

The Island continues to sink lower and lower, shaping up to wrap its theatrical run with no more than $40 million dollars to its name (only one third its budget not including marketing). The only reason it stands a chance of lasting one more week in the top ten is the lack of competition joining the fray next week.

Batman finally succombed to his arch rival, the penguin. This summer's biggest surprise, March of the Penguins, held onto number ten while Batman Begins finally slipped off the chart. Hustle and Flow and The Devil's Rejects also died fast and quiet, disappearing under the tuxedo birds' feet after only one week apiece in the top ten.

Penguins has consistently climbed the chart since its initial release 6 weeks ago, finally breaking into the top ten last week. It promises to go even further as its theater count doubles to 1500 next week. The mass expansion, along with a simple but adorable marketing blitz, has all but guaranteed the little guys at least one more week of upward mobility, maybe even two.

Why all the fuss over the little guys? According to Box Office Mojo, Penguins is one of only four documentaries to ever earn a national release. As well, folllowing this week's success Penguins will soon be the second highest grossing documentary of all time. Only Farenheit 9/11 (whose status as a bona fide documentary is somewhat shaky in my book) stands ahead, however its all time $119 million total is all but undefeatable.

Next week Dukes of Hazzard roars onto screens across the nation. Will Jessica Simpson's highly advertised costuming (the only thing the movie seems to have going for it) be enough to unseat Mr. Wonka and the wedding boys? Probably so. Meanwhile the overall box office continues to sag lower than Daisy Duke's neck line.