If the box office this weekend is any indication of what 2009 will be like, maybe there is a reason for some optimism. Thanks to Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, Brad Pitt, and even Tom Cruise, the movie theater was a big draw in the first days of the new year. The top five films were the same as last weekend, and they each dropped less than 35% — an impressive feat at any time of year. And overall the box office was robust, up an estimated 7% compared to New Year’s weekend in 2008. It certainly helped that there was a movie for everyone at the box office: family (Marley & Me), drama (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), suspense (Valkyrie) and even a kid flick (Bedtime Stories).
Marley won the No. 1 slot. Adding $24.1 million to its
coffers put the pooch just where Fox wanted him, in the coveted $100
million club. The movie’s total take stands at $106.5 million and with
little competition in the weeks to come, it will probably keep on
climbing. Bedtime Stories is also holding strong. The Adam
Sandler-starrer dropped a scant 26% its second weekend to $20.3
million, putting its total gross at $85 million. The critics hated it,
but moviegoers sure are fans. And lucky for Paramount, the David
Fincher-directed drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
seems to be holding moviegoers’ attention. Losing only 31% of its
opening weekend gross, the lengthy — and expensive — epic is nearing
the $80 million mark after two weeks in release. The WWII epic Valkyrie,
which was widely lampooned before anyone had seen a frame of the film,
has actually turned into a successful movie for the revamped MGM.
Grossing an additional $14 million, the Bryan Singer-directed thriller
has now earned $60.7 million in two weeks. Rounding out the top five is
Jim Carrey’s comedy Yes Man; an additional $13.9 million brings the Warner Bros. film’s earnings to $79.4 million.
Among the Oscar bait hitting theaters, Miramax’s Doubt and Fox Searchlight’s Slumdog Millionaire both hit the top ten. The Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman-starrer Doubt,
in over 1,200 theaters for the second week in a row, grossed $5 million
to put its total cume at $18 million. And the Danny Boyle-directed Slumdog
is doing gangbusters at the theater. In its 8th week, the
Bollywood-infused drama earned $4.7 million to put its cume at $28.7
million. Not bad for a movie that back in September had no studio to
call home. The Kate Winslet-Leonardo DiCaprio reunion Revolutionary Road,
which added 30 theaters in its second week of release, is doing
terrific limited business. Its per-screen average is $25,000, with a
cume of $1.3 million. Meanwhile, Paramount’s Defiance got off
to a strong start. The WWII film starring Daniel Craig and Liev
Schreiber grossed $121,000 on only two screens. It’s a good thing Defiance
and other well-pedigreed films will expand in the weeks to come,
offering moviegoers something more than the usual January dreck.
See this weekend’s Box Office Chart
More from EW:
R-rated movies you saw too young? ‘fess up!
‘SNL’ sports sketches: What’s your fave?
First Look! 12 hot movies coming in 2009
Good Weekend. Nothing suprising. Marley and Me will probably end with around 160-170 million, Bedtime stories 135-140 million, Benjamin Button, well if it gets nominated for a bunch of Academy Awards, and if its terrific word of mouth continues, 150 million. I highly doubt it, but if it wins Best Picture, it will surely cross 200 million. Jim Carrey’s Yes Man will cross the 100 million mark in 2 weeks probably, just like Fun with Dick and Jane, the movie is holding up well.
i’ve seen curious and it was great. brad pitt should get a best actor oscar nod. just saw valkyrie. also a good movie. don’t listen to the critics.
not mention twilight is closing in on 200 mil domestically ;o)
Surprised that E didn’t mention that Twilight actually went up this weekend, and is closing in on the $200 mark. It just might get there…who knew.
You clearly don’t understand how the box office works if you think Twilight will hit $200 million. It’s domestic cume is $176 mil., and it’s out of the Top 10. It will be lucky to hit $185 million, or even $180 mil.
The stunner in the top 3 has to be Benjamin Button. Playing in less theaters and with fewer showing than the top two, its 80 million dollar take in two weeks is impressive, but so is the 60 million dollar take of
Valkyrie. Don’t know if Valkyrie will receive any award nominations but Benjamin Button already has and any major wins will certainly add to its overall box office.
Saw Marley and Me this weekend, and thought it was a cute movie, sad but cute. As far as Twilight, seeing how some thought it would limp its way to 150mil, I say 176mil is not too bad. Don’t see it passing the 200mil mark, but should hit 180mil.
Jeff you clearly don’t understand women. They will pay to see something over and over again if it is something they like. Will it hit the 200 mark, doubt it. Will it hit 180…without a doubt.
This was such a cute movie. I loved it. My favorite line was when Owen Wilson talked about dogs http://www.entertonement.com/clips/54528/Doesn%27t-care-if-you%27re-rich-or-poor
Um Twilight rose this weekend, and it made .7 million that’s impressive. It should make its way to 190 million, easily will pass 180 by next weekend
A great weekend, indeed! I’m excited about the state of the movie biz right now- it’s doing so well. I honestly attribute a lot of the success this weekend to Jennifer Aniston. The Box Office Junkie ( http://theboxofficejunkie.com ) just ran a whole article about her drawing power, and I agree!
Family films are also a HUGE reason for all the success, as well.
Oh since we are on the topic of Twilight, I’ll add my two cents. I agree that it will probably pass $180K next weekend and probably finish around $190K+. If it hits $200K I’ll truly be shocked. Then again I didn’t think it would hit $175K.
It performed well these past few weeks because kids were out of school. This next week will be the test since kids are back in school. Also how many theaters will hang on to it with several new movies opening in wide release over the next couple weeks. But as long as it’s still out there and women and ‘tweens love it enough, they’ll keep seeing it!
Wow a whole bunch of TWILIGHT heads in the comments. The Movie was nt THAT GOOD! Indianna Jones Made that much money and it sucked!
The 2 legged dog was O.K. The 4 legged dog was better. Reese Witherspoon called. She wants her chin back.
The person whom wrote this box office round up failed to mention anything about the impressive stride of the Clint Eastwood movie “Gran Torino”. For the last two weeks it has been playing in only 84 theaters. One week ago it’s per screen average was roughly $6,000 less then it was this weekend. In it’s first climb to 84 theaters it’s percent change was a staggering 396.1%. THis weekend it built on that another 21.4%, making it’s two week total an amazing 417.5% climb in two weeks with out adding any theaters. I tried to see the movie twice and both times it was sold out. My prediction is with a building audience and great reviews “Gran Torino” will sneak it’s way in to an Academy Award Nomination for best picture. The movie is great and once it adds more theaters and more people see that the buzz will only grow in the closing weeks till the nominations are announced.