By Sarah Sluis
Contrary to industry expectations, last week's Madea Goes to Jail won the weekend, earning 30% more than the debut of Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. Alas, teen audiences are fickle, and the
teen idol on everyone's wall and bedsheets one day becomes the thing to be "too cool for" the next. With so many other projects in the pipeline, including their own television show, does this mean the popularity of the Jonas Brothers has already peaked, or is their awareness still just way lower than Hannah Montana? On the plus side, the 3D concert film had the second highest per-screen average of the week, beat only by its 3D competitor, Under the Sea 3D, which is in release on just 51 screens.
The other new release, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, snuck in at number eight,
earning $4.6 million. A straight-up genre choice with a small release and even smaller marketing budget, its top ten showing is probably in line with expectations.
Best Picture victor Slumdog Millionaire (its "Best Song" "Jai Ho" means "may victory be yours") expanded its release and brought in $12.1 million, its highest weekend gross to date. The movie has been in release for four months, and just crossed the $100 million mark last week, and with this weekend its gross is $115 million. Not bad, especially for a film purported to have a roughly $15 million production budget (who doesn't like to have a 1000% return?), but the marketing costs over the four-month period most likely make a significant cut into their profits.
Although outside of the top ten, the pictures winning Best Actor and Best Actress saw their grosses jump. Milk, for which Sean Penn won the Best Actor Oscar, saw a 37% increase at the box office, and The Reader, the movie Kate Winslet received the Best Actress win for, received a 10% boost. Doubt, The Wrestler, and Frost/Nixon all decreased, despite their publicity at the Oscar ceremony.
Among the returnees to the top ten, Taken, at number four with $9.9 million, is probably taking the market that would have gone to see The International (#14; $2.8 million) had it been any good. Both in the Top Ten, He's Just Not That Into You (#5; $5.8 million; $78.5 million) has had a much more lasting presence than Confessions of a Shopaholic (#9; $4.4 million; $33.6 million).
Delightful Coraline, which deserved to do well at the box office so more films like it can be made, has racked up $61 million over four weeks, including a $5.2 million showing this weekend at number seven. Its precipitous five-place drop in the top ten (it finished at number two last weekend) and 54% decrease in take probably comes from a decline in its 3D venues, as theatres shifted to the Jonas Brothers film.
Coming up this weekend, everyone is going to be watching the Watchmen, to see if its so-so reviews decrease its fan fervor, or galvanizes a group determined to see the comic book film years in the making.
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