By Katey Rich
I guess I owe Denzel Washington an apology: when predicting the weekend box office last Friday, I barely gave American Gangster a fighting chance against Bee Movie, figuring the cartoon's massive marketing budget and wide appeal would overcome a gritty 70s-era crime movie. It turns out, though, despite all the naysayers of this fall who think that adult film have lost their appeal, grown-ups still go to the movies for something other than torture porn! Gangster ruled the box office with a $46 million haul, $7 million more than Bee Movie and the best opening for a crime drama ever (so there, Scorsese!).
Those two hits brought the weekend's total gross to above that of this period last year for the first time in six weeks, possibly ending studio hand-wringing that this summer's success was just a fluke. The only other wide release this weekend, Martian Child, barely made an impact, with a $3.6 million take from over 2,000 screens. Holdovers, however, continued to perform: Saw IV slipped 60% from last weekend but still managed to come in at #3 with $11 million, and Dan in Real Life stayed right behind it at #4 (#2 last week) with $8 million. 30 Days of Night came in at #5, even though it lost 230 theatres, indicating the vampire story's opening-weekend success was probably only possible in a pre-Saw IV world. And even with Bee Movie out there, people continued wanting to see the family-friendly The Game Plan, helping it land that #6 slot with $3.8 million.
This is yet another weekend in which I don't get the complaining about George Clooney's star appeal; Michael Clayton continues holding steady in the top 10 in its fifth weekend, earning $2.9 million to put it at #8. And the other grown-up crime drama out there, Gone Baby Gone, is also holding in there at #10, having taken in $2.4 million. I don't like the idea that it's slipping out of the top 10, and already losing theaters; a movie with this kind of wide appeal doesn't deserve to be relegated to Oscar prognostication and nothing else so early in its run.
Why Did I Get Married? rounds out the top 10 at #9, with a $2.7 million take. Having brought in over $51 million so far, it's the second-biggest grosser of the top 10 (behind The Game Plan), and continues to prove that, when it comes to box office, Tyler Perry truly operates in a realm of his own.
A full list of Box Office Mojo's top 20 is after the jump. Note that We Own the Night, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Rendition are poised to fall off the face of the Earth any time now, while Lars and the Real Girl and Into the Wild are adding screens and holding pretty nicely in limited release (I saw Lars last night at 9:30, and it was packed! Who knew everyone would head out for some offbeat romantic comedy after the Patriots vs. Colts game?)
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | American Gangster | Uni. | $46,344,000 | - | 3,054 | - | $15,174 | $46,344,000 | $100 | 1 |
| 2 | N | Bee Movie | P/DW | $39,100,000 | - | 3,928 | - | $9,954 | $39,100,000 | $150 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Saw IV | LGF | $11,010,000 | -65.3% | 3,183 | - | $3,459 | $51,060,000 | - | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | Dan in Real Life | BV | $8,125,000 | -31.2% | 1,925 | +4 | $4,220 | $22,950,000 | - | 2 |
| 5 | 3 | 30 Days of Night | Sony | $4,000,000 | -41.7% | 2,627 | -232 | $1,522 | $34,229,000 | $30 | 3 |
| 6 | 4 | The Game Plan | BV | $3,853,000 | -37.1% | 2,844 | -498 | $1,354 | $81,957,000 | - | 6 |
| 7 | N | Martian Child | NL | $3,650,000 | - | 2,020 | - | $1,806 | $3,650,000 | - | 1 |
| 8 | 6 | Michael Clayton | WB | $2,900,000 | -41.1% | 2,107 | -478 | $1,376 | $33,198,000 | - | 5 |
| 9 | 5 | Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married | LGF | $2,730,000 | -51.6% | 1,403 | -494 | $1,945 | $51,185,000 | - | 4 |
| 10 | 7 | Gone Baby Gone | Mira. | $2,400,000 | -37.1% | 1,617 | -96 | $1,484 | $14,948,000 | - | 3 |
| 11 | 8 | Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D (2007 re-issue) | BV | $1,543,000 | -55.2% | 562 | -2 | $2,745 | $12,844,000 | - | 3 |
| 12 | 10 | The Comebacks | FoxA | $1,475,000 | -56.3% | 1,632 | -1,180 | $903 | $11,940,000 | - | 3 |
| 13 | 9 | We Own the Night | Sony | $1,400,000 | -58.8% | 1,634 | -768 | $856 | $27,730,000 | $21 | 4 |
| 14 | 16 | Into the Wild | ParV | $1,375,000 | -13.8% | 660 | +2 | $2,083 | $10,991,000 | - | 7 |
| 15 | 13 | The Darjeeling Limited | FoxS | $1,300,000 | -26.2% | 615 | -83 | $2,113 | $8,110,000 | - | 6 |
| 16 | 14 | Across the Universe | SonR | $1,125,000 | -33.3% | 822 | -142 | $1,368 | $21,070,000 | - | 8 |
| 17 | 17 | Bella | RAtt. | $1,001,000 | -24.6% | 186 | +21 | $5,381 | $2,589,000 | - | 2 |
| 18 | 19 | Lars and the Real Girl | MGM | $783,000 | -15.5% | 321 | +25 | $2,439 | $2,407,000 | $12 | 4 |
| 19 | 15 | Elizabeth: The Golden Age | Uni. | $627,000 | -62.0% | 562 | -1,041 | $1,115 | $15,367,000 | - | 4 |
| 20 | 11 | Rendition | NL | $590,000 | -75.1% | 609 | -1,641 | $968 | $9,313,000 | - | 3 |
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