After two weeks settling for the runner-up position, THE BLIND SIDE capitalizes on good word of mouth and lackluster competition to take the crown from two-week champ, NEW MOON. I caught up on movies I missed in theatres this weekend and had to choose between these two films. I went with NEW MOON. Let me just say, that was definitely the wrong choice. God that was painful to sit through. I guess I should have gone with the crowd.
THE BLIND SIDE man not have grossed NEW MOON numbers but with another $20 million this weekend, it is well on its way to become Sandra Bullock's highest grossing title. Just when it seemed like she couldn't command her asking price anymore, this year she scores one-two punch that began with THE PROPOSAL this past summer also grossing over $100 million. Could an Oscar nomination be that third good thing in the string?
The week's biggest opener hardly has anything to brag about but at least it can brag that it did better than everything else that opened this weekend. Coming in third place was Jim Sheridan's post-war family drama, BROTHERS. The film received mixed reviews from critics, including this one, and, without any Oscar buzz to build on, should drop off the radar pretty quickly. Still, at least it made the radar. Opening in 7th place, an action film not seeing any action, ARMORED. And even further down the list in tenth, another Robert Deniro flop, EVERYBODY'S FINE. Everyone except for Deniro's Oscar chances that is.
Below the Top 10, awards season contenders continued to platform and exceed expectations. Earlier this week, the National Board of Review named UP IN THE AIR the best picture of the year and this weekend, it debuts to $1.19 million on just 15 screens. The film's star, George Clooney, was also named the best actor of the year. While the NBR ignored it, PRECIOUS was honoured with the most nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards this week. This week it suffers a steep drop out of the Top 10 but its $36 million take before any major awards recognition is an incredible foundation going into awards season. And THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG continues to attain stellar results on just two screens, falling off just 5% this week and pulling in another $744K. Its wide release next week will have many eyes watching, including mine.
NEXT WEEK: Clint Eastwood's next awards hopeful, INVICTUS, hits 2150 screens. THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG goes from 2 screens to over 3300. Peter Jackson's latest, THE LOVELY BONES, starts on just 3 screens. And Tom Ford's directorial debut, A SINGLE MAN, begins its limited run.
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