September 9 - 11, 2005
THTRS = Number of Screens
* Denotes new release.
Click on title to read CB Review
| 1. | The Exorcism of Emily Rose |
| $30,200,000 - Total: $30,200,000 | |
| LW: - WR: 1 THTRS: 2981 |
| 2. | The 40-Year-Old Virgin |
| $7,901,000 - Total: $82,310,000 | |
| LW: 2 WR: 4 THTRS: 2976 |
| 3. | Transporter 2 |
| $7,200,000 - Total: $30,132,000 | |
| LW: 1 WR: 2 THTRS: 3320 |
| 4. | The Constant Gardener |
| $4,854,000 - Total: $19,144,000 | |
| LW: 3 WR: 2 THTRS: 1381 |
| 5. | Red Eye |
| $4,600,000 - Total: $51,303,000 | |
| LW: 4 WR: 4 THTRS: 3076 |
| 6. | The Man |
| $4,025,000 - Total: $4,025,000 | |
| LW: - WR: 1 THTRS: 2040 |
| 7. | The Brothers Grimm |
| $3,314,000 - Total: $33,265,000 | |
| LW: 5 WR: 3 THTRS: 2750 |
| 8. | Wedding Crashers |
| $3,225,000 - Total: $200,025,000 | |
| LW: 7 WR: 9 THTRS: 2181 |
| 9. | Four Brothers |
| $2,950,000 - Total: $68,275,000 | |
| LW: 6 WR: 5 THTRS: 2093 |
| 10. | March of the Penguins |
| $2,525,000 - Total: $56,865,000 | |
| LW: 8 WR: 12 THTRS: 2403 |
Nothing gets Americans into theaters faster than Jessica Simpson's, um, acting skills like a good exorcism. That's right, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the only movie besides Dukes of Hazzard to break the $30 million opening mark since box office hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory declared the end of the summer smashes. Apparently it's cool to bash Catholicism these days and what could be better than making a movie about a botched exorcism conducted by a man of the cloth.
The other new release to make it into the top ten was The Man. Of course, what it made probably didn't begin to cover half of what Samuel L. Jackson was paid to do the film. If ticket sales are any indication, Americans were twice as excited to see a middle aged man struggle to abandon virginitydom for the fourth weekend in a row than watch Sammy J and Eugene Levy verbally and physically slap each other silly for an hour and half. Expect them to drop off the chart faster than you can say "hack buddy cop movie".
Another new release that came in at number 15 was Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman's drama An Unfinished Life. The movie had a massive sneak preview last week in over 700 theaters but this week it only opened in 139 theaters. Don't write it off though. The movie is getting great reviews and made more per theater than everything in the top ten except Emily Rose. Expect it to get a slightly wider release but it may not be enough to get it into the top ten. Elijah Wood's Green Street Hooligans also opened this week and also made bank per theater, but with only 7 screens it barely managed $60,000.
I can't help but mention those loveable penguins one more time. March of the Penguins managed to stay on the top ten chart as long as Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. It has out grossed several major summer releases and is still in the top ten in its 12th week of release, a feat few movies can claim. Not bad for a documentary. No doubt it will be a topic of interest for VH1's "I Love 2005". We say farewell to the little guys as they finally look to drop out of the top ten next week.
Romantic comedy Just Like Heaven and gun running dramedy Lord of War go head to head with Emily Rose for the number one spot. Can semi-dead Reese Witherspoon and heartless in-love Nicholas Cage unseat based-on-a-true-story paranormality? White Noise says, absolutely.
