Mall Cop holds down #1 spot; Oscar nominees see lift

By Sarah Sluis

Paul Blart: Mall Cop earned $21.5 million this weekend, bringing its two-week total to $64.5 million. Any reservations I had about the film's appeal were halted when I visited a mall this weekend, and was treated to the sight of a mall cop, on a Segway, ordering a meal at Dunkin Donuts. There's just something incredibly pompous about being mounted on a Segway, even without the addition of a coffee/doughnuts stereotype. If I were a teen moviegoer eager to thumb authority, I would definitely go see this movie in my mall's multiplex. With just a 32% drop from last week, the movie most likely had good word-of-mouth among fans of Kevin James.

Right behind Paul Blart, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans debuted at $20.7 million, while the badly reviewed Inkheart earned just $7.7 million and the number seven spot. Guess they won't be making any of the two already-scripted sequels.

With the Oscar nominees announced on Thursday, many films angling for nominations planned on expanding their runs in hopes of picking up extra business. The snubbed Gran Torino, which widened its

run last week, continued to make the biggest impact on the box office, dropping just one spot to number three. With so much momentum, it stands a chance at overtaking the gross of big-budget, most-nominated film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which staged its wide release over Christmas. Gran Torino's take, $97 million, is just slightly under Button's $111 million (to date) gross.

With so many Oscar contenders in the running amidst the January comedies and thrillers, over twenty

films grossed more than $1 million this weekend. All the nominated films saw boosts in business, especially when combined with expanded runs. Slumdog Millionaire, which moved into national release, saw an 80% increase in business, earning $10.5 million and the number five spot. Benjamin Button also made the top ten, but, already saturated in every market, saw only a 7% rise in business, earning $6 million and the number nine spot.

Despite receiving a mere three Oscar nominations, Revolutionary Road saw an almost 200% increase in business, and a per-screen average of $4,979, making the film more efficient than expansions of Best Picture nominees Frost/Nixon and The Reader. On the strength of Mickey Rourke's Oscar nomination, The Wrestler earned $6,537 per screen while showing on a modest 566 screens.

Next weekend thrillers The Uninvited and Taken will compete for attention, along with Renee Zellwegger starrer New in Town, mixing in with the awards contenders and, of course, the mall cop.

Full studio estimates viewable here.

MLK Weekend boosts 'Paul Blart,' 'Hotel for Dogs'

By Sarah Sluis

Schools, governments, and lucky company workers received the day off yesterday, and many chose to catch a matinee. Kid-themed Hotel for Dogs captured the elementary school crowd, and was the only film to have a "higher occupancy" rate on Monday than Sunday, earning $5.4 million on the holiday to

bring its four-day weekend gross to $22.5 million--a respectable fifth-place finish.

On Friday, I predicted teen audiences would go for comedy over horror, especially since horror flick The Unborn came out last week, and it turned out I was right. Paul Blart: Mall Cop Segwayed right to the top with $39 million, including healthy business on Monday, while My Bloody Valentine 3D came in third with $24.2 million, dampened by a lack of screens that forced some to view in 2D.

Sandwiched between the comedy and horror draws was Gran Torino, which dropped a mere 11% from last week (including Monday) to finish at $26.2 million. While Eastwood's film hasn't garnered as much awards season acclaim as, say, Million Dollar Baby, the movie has a solid 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (which draws in review-sensitive older women) and headliner Clint Eastwood, a star/director particularly popular with older males. Both have factored into the film's high attendance rates among older viewers.

Finishing just above Hotel for Dogs, B.I.G. biopic Notorious earned $24 million, along with the highest per-screen average of the top ten, a sign that distributors successfully targeted the release to draw in viewers. A quick search of New York City screenings, for example, revealed hourly showings at one Harlem theatre, as well as a multiplex far out in Brooklyn, not far from B.I.G.'s place of birth. The AMC Empire 25 on 42nd Street, in the heart of New York City, had thirteen showings of Notorious, while only nine of Paul Blart: Mall Cop. For urban teens who do not count the mythical "Manhattan Mall" as one of their hangouts, it's no wonder Biggie played better than an overweight security guard.

The next five releases, holdovers from last week, posted below-average drops in box office once the Monday boost was factored in. Defiance, the Daniel Craig, Nazis-in-the-woods film, expanded this week to a respectable $5,000 per screen, earning a $10.7 million gross. Bride Wars, The Unborn, and Marley & Me posted in the $7 to $10 million range, and underdog Slumdog Millionaire continued its run as a hanger-on in the top ten. Its $7.1 million bested the take of the vastly more expensive The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which earned $6.6 million at the number eleven spot.