Sunday, October 17, 2010

Black Sheep @ The Box Office

Really? A $50 million opening weekend for a third JACKASS installment. I will admit to watching and laughing whole heartedly at the first JACKASS but that was after a drink or five and I was in the privacy of my own living room. It was also eight years ago. How are we not over this by now? Not only are we not over this but $50 million is more than double what the first installment pulled in on opening weekend and $20 million more than JACKASS: NUMBER TWO pulled in its opening weekend in 2006. Thank God for 3D, right? This revolution in cinema has allowed for great film franchises like JACKASS to flourish! Is this what you had in mind, Mr. Cameron?

I wasn't able to catch RED this weekend but I hear great things and $22 million is a strong second place showing for this adult action-comedy. Together, RED and JACKASS 3D took THE SOCIAL NETWORK down to the third spot. Still, with less than a 30% drop for the second week in a row, this David Fincher film is clearly striking a chord that will help its chances come awards season. I mean, it isn't JACKASS 3D big but we can't expect intelligent film to do the same kind of business as films where people tie remote control helicopters to the ends of their penises with strings, now can we?

IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY is apparently not so funny to anyone else either. The Zach Galifianakis dramedy has stalled in 12th place in its second week with a 37% drop. Documentary, WAITING FOR SUPERMAN and Edward Norton/Robert Deniro thriller, STONE, continue to expand strongly. Hilary Swank vehicle, CONVICTION, opens to a less than convincing $10K per screen average on 11 screens. Meanwhile, John Lennon film, NOWHERE BOY, sees its grosses blow up by 570% after adding 200+ screens. Still, the biggest art house success of the week is not surprisingly, Clint Eastwood's latest, HEREAFTER. The Black Sheep review will be coming next week but this weekend, on just 6 screens, the Matt Damon led film pulled in over $230K for an average of $38,500 per screen. Word is still out on the film's afterlife.

NEXT WEEK: HEREAFTER goes ultra wide on 2200 screens and takes on another spookfest, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 opening on 2900 screens. Two films dealing with what happens to us after we're dead, two very different films I'm sure. Who knows though? Eastwood could easily be the ghost in PA2 for all we know.

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