'District 9' takes over box office

By Sarah Sluis

Surpassing industry expectations, District 9 earned a stellar $37 million this weekend, thanks to strong showings from men and an intriguing viral campaign that deemed spaces "humans only" and drew attention to the movie's documentary feel. With only $30 million in production costs, and an international setting of South Africa, this movie appears poised to make a tidy profit in the U.S. and abroad.

In its second week, G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra dropped 59% to $22.5 million, but its profitable summer weekdays (it earned $21.5 million from Monday through Thursday) have already brought its cumulative gross to $98.7 million. The toy movie's success, the second this summer after Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, will ensure that plenty more toy and game-based movies receive the greenlight.

Opening at number three, The Time Traveler's Wife netted $19.2 million. With two female-oriented competitors in the top ten, its performance was solid and in line with expectations. Butter-heavy Julie & Julia dropped a light 38% to bring in $12.4 million. At number eight, The Ugly Truth eked out another $4.5 million, a 33% drop, in its fourth week at the box office.

Of the remaining three movies opening wide during the weekend, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard brought in the most business, $5.3 million, enough to warrant a number six spot in the rankings. Ponyo opened even smaller, at number nine, earning $3.5 million. Since the animated feature only debuted on 927 screens, it boasted a higher per-screen average than The Goods and other movies higher up in the rankings. Bandslam, well-reviewed but little-seen, opened outside of the top ten, at number thirteen, with a paltry $2.2 million gross.

The other musical opener of the week, documentary It Might Get Loud, drummed up $14,400 per screen at seven locations. Featuring Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge jamming together and talking about their music, this is an auspicious start for a film that already has a planned expansion across the U.S. from now up through October.

This Friday, all eyes will be on Weinstein Co.'s Inglourious Basterds, which has been tweaked since its so-so reception at the Cannes Film Festival, and whose success is critical to the company's future. It will be joined by Fox Searchlight's Post-Grad and kid-oriented Shorts, a fantastical mix of CGI and live-action.