Are you kidding me? It's bad enough that Disney's movie studios have gotten into the habit of creating absolute crap, their bizarre team of profiteering alchemists manage to find a way to spin it into box office gold. For a second weekend in a row The Game Plan has trampled its way to the number one spot. Of course, it didn't have anything even remotely resembling competition this weekend, but still. I don't know if I can go another week hearing that The Game Plan is the number one move in America.
Among this weekend's new releases, The Heartbreak Kid fared the best, coming in at second place. Even though the father/son angle gave the movie a unique touch, it ended up as little more than Ben Stiller rehashing a handful of his old roles. Despite that, the movie managed to pull together $14 million. Fantasy bangwagon flick The Seeker conjured up a miserable (but not unexpected) $3.4 million. It's a well deserved financial failure for a project that is little more than an unimaginative attempt to leave creativity by the wayside and cash in on the fantasy genre madness.
Jennifer Lopez' project Feel the Noise did surprisingly well. Even in small release (only 1,015 theaters) it raked together $3.4 million to come in seventh place over all, but third place in the top ten for per theater earnings.
On a side note, the theatrical release of Bladerunner: The Final Cut made nearly $100,000 in just two theaters. While there are no plans at this point for a wider release, it's a good sign that re-editing old movies for more profits is alive and well in Hollywood. I don't know why they're sweating the upcoming strike. No new material is needed to make money.
Next weekend is a parade of dramas with something for everyone. Period drama Elizabeth: The Golden Age, sports drama The Final Season, crime drama We Own The Night and thriller drama Michael Clayton will all go head to head against comedy Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP TEN
October 5 - 7, 2007
LW = Last Week WR = Weeks Released
THTRS = Number of Screens
* Denotes new release.
Click on title to read CB Review
| 1. | The Game Plan | $16,262,000 - Total: $42,811,000 | LW: 1 WR: 2 THTRS: 3105 |
| 2. | The Heartbreak Kid * | $14,031,000 - Total: $14,031,000 | LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3229 |
| 3. | The Kingdom | $9,345,000 - Total: $31,368,000 | LW: 2 WR: 2 THTRS: 2802 |
| 4. | Resident Evil: Extinction | $4,300,000 - Total: $43,474,000 | LW: 3 WR: 3 THTRS: 2848 |
| 5. | The Seeker:The Dark Is Rising * | $3,725,000 - Total: $3,725,000 | LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3141 |
| 6. | Good Luck Chuck | $3,500,000 - Total: $29,098,000 | LW: 4 WR: 3 THTRS: 2476 |
| 7. | Feel the Noise * | $3,400,000 - Total: $3,400,000 | LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 1015 |
| 8. | 3:10 to Yuma (2007) | $3,040,000 - Total: $48,553,000 | LW: 5 WR: 5 THTRS: 2562 |
| 9. | The Brave One | $2,260,000 - Total: $34,319,000 | LW: 6 WR: 4 THTRS: 2358 |
| 10. | Mr. Woodcock | $2,025,000 - Total: $22,307,000 | LW: 7 WR: 4 THTRS: 1950 |
