'Witch Mountain' makes it to the top

By Sarah Sluis

Race to Witch Mountain overtook Watchmen this weekend, earning $25 million to grab the number one spot. But the $25 million box office isn't as high as many of the other top films this year. Tyler Perry's

Madea Goes to Jail and Friday the 13th, for example, both opened to around $40 million, and Watchmen to $55 million. Race to Witch Mountain's take puts it alongside #1 films Taken and He's Just Not That Into You, both of which opened in the high twenties range.

Expect more family movies with Dwayne Johnson now that he's buried his "The Rock" moniker and recast himself as the tough-guy-who-goes-soft, kid-friendly star. His next foray into the Arnold Schwarzennegger "Kindergarten Cop" territory will be November's Tooth Fairy, where he will play a tough hockey player (who presumably has knocked out more than his fair share of teeth) sentenced to serve one week as a tooth fairy.

At number two, Watchmen's 67% drop to $18 million was an unwelcome plummet that jeopardizes its profitability. The studio expects the drop will slow next week, and the film will be able to recoup its $150 million production and $50 million marketing costs eventually, but it's certainly not happening at the U.S. box office. Even with sub-50% drops, it would take the film almost two months to cross $100 million. Because studios planned around Watchmen, assuming the movie's big budget posed a box-office threat, no other comic book movies open until May 1st, when X-Men Origins: Wolverine releases. However, while the field is wide open from an event film perspective, plenty of films appealing to the Watchmen demographic--even Last House on the Left--will draw in moviegoers who have heard or read so-so reviews.

The horror remake Last House on the Left opened third at $14.6 million, coming in on the low side. Still, the movie's release far exceeded the number ten film, Miss March, which opened to just $2.3 million. All the returning films dropped from 9-39%, excellent numbers that show moviegoers are rewarding satisfying

entertainment over hype, as unexpected successes Taken and Paul Blart: Mall Cop continue to draw in audiences, along with the perennial Slumdog.

Opening on just four screens, Sunshine Cleaning earned an astonishing $53,000 per screen, helped, no doubt, by the star power of Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Its excellent showing will no doubt ramp up plans for its expansion.

Next week, comedy I Love You, Man opens along with Julia Roberts-Clive Owen spy romance Duplicity and sci-fi thriller Knowing, which stars Nicolas Cage, so look for the round-up this Friday.