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.