September 16 - 18, 2005
THTRS = Number of Screens
* Denotes new release.
Click on title to read CB Review
| 1. | Just Like Heaven* |
| $16,500,000 - Total: $16,500,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3508 |
| 2. | The Exorcism of Emily Rose |
| $15,300,000 - Total: $52,009,000 | |
| LW: 1 WR: 2 THTRS: 2983 |
| 3. | Lord of War* |
| $9,200,000 - Total: $9,200,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 2814 |
| 4. | The 40-Year-Old Virgin |
| $5,847,000 - Total: $90,606,000 | |
| LW: 2 WR: 5 THTRS: 3006 |
| 5. | Cry Wolf* |
| $4,551,000 - Total: $4,551,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 1790 |
| 6. | Transporter 2 |
| $4,025,000 - Total: $36,507,000 | |
| LW: 3 WR: 3 THTRS: 2805 |
| 7. | The Constant Gardener |
| $3,695,000 - Total: $24,366,000 | |
| LW: 4 WR: 3 THTRS: 1387 |
| 8. | Red Eye |
| $2,900,000 - Total: $55,226,000 | |
| LW: 5 WR: 5 THTRS: 2455 |
| 9. | March of the Penguins |
| $2,555,000 - Total: $70,430,000 | |
| LW: 10 WR: 13 THTRS: 1876 |
| 10. | Wedding Crashers |
| $2,525,000 - Total: $203,618,000 | |
| LW: 8 WR: 10 THTRS: 1807 |
This week it would seem that the only thing Americans like better than a good exorcism is a good possession, or at least a good haunting anyway. Cute but witty Reese Witherspoon and underrated Mark Ruffalo stole the lime light from Emily Rose with Just Like Heaven taking the number one spot this week. Nothing else even came close.
A cool $5 million behind Emily Rose was the Nic Cage flick Lord of War. Dubbed a "morality play" of sorts, the movie only moderately intrigued audiences leaving director/writer Andrew Niccol in something of a lurch. The movie will likely have a tough time recovering its modest $42 million dollar budget and what must have been a rather hefty marketing invoice. Niccol's previous directorial/writing efforts, S1m0ne and Gattaca were collosal box office failures and Lord of War threatens a cash disaster trifecta. I guess folks just aren't totally ready for a movie about a guy who shamelessly profits from selling guns to whoever will buy no matter how the story ends.
The weekend's other wide release Cry_Wolf limped in to the number five slot, bringing in less than $5 million. PG-13 teen thriller movies are all the rage with studios these days but audiences seem to be getting a little bored. It's not a great credit for Focus Film's subsidiary Rogue Pictures, the financial force behind Cry_Wolf. All of their films including the Assault on Precinct 13 remake and Unleashed have been hit and miss with the critics and struggled or failed to turn a profit.
Several much anticipated, big name movies had limited releases this weekend including Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride, Proof, Everything is Illuminated and Venom. OK, so Venom isn't much anticipated but the rest are and most will see much larger releases in the coming weeks. It's possible the limited release tactic is going to do more harm than good as critics have been all over TV, radio and the internet in the last few days declaring the "only-slightly-better-than-most" quality of Corpse Bride and Proof. Will the grudgingly positive early reviewing help or hinder movies that most won't get to see for another week? We'll have to wait and see.
It's become almost annoying, but you just can't keep a good penguin down. The little buggers creeped back up from number ten to number nine as bigger names like The Brothers Grimm and Wedding Crashers slipped right under their cute little webbed feet. March of the Penguin's staying power is almost unbelievable. With only two major releases next week (well, really only one and a half since one of them is the obscure Roll Bounce) there's a good chance Penguins will stay in the top ten one more week bringing their streak in the top ten to eleven weeks, one the longest in recent cinematic history.
