'Shutter Island' takes advantage of a deserted weekend

By Sarah Sluis

The only new wide release in sight, Shutter Island, racked up $40.2 million its opening weekend. Although an unexpected change in release date, from October to February, caused many to raise eyebrows, the strategic change ended up benefiting the movie's box office in a big way. Despite the fact that both director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio have received better reviews for other films, Shutter Island was the biggest opening ever for both of them. Males and females were drawn equally to the movie, which also attracted viewers from all age groups old enough to see a R-rated film.

On the specialty circuit, The Ghost Writer's four-theatre debut earned each theatre $44,700. The strong opening bodes well for the movie's expansion over the next couple of weeks. Roman Polanski's Best Director win at the Berlin International Film Festival doesn't hurt either.

If Valentine's Day's opening weekend was much larger than expected, its 70% second-weekend drop crashed it right back down with a $17.1 million take. With many films making a steep post-President's Day weekend decline, however, the movie was still relatively strong and held onto second place. Given its holiday-based theme and title, Valentine's Day could have fallen further, but female-skewing romances seem to be all the rage at the box office.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief dropped 50% from the previous weekend to $15.3 million. The kid-friendly picture is one of the only offerings on the market, and will be for one more weekend before Alice in Wonderland takes the stage.

The Wolfman also fell around 70% to $9.8 million and dropped from second to fifth place. With a cumulative take of $50 million, this movie will lose money for Universal, which reportedly spent $150 million on its production.

Avatar demonstrated its lasting strength by moving up one spot from last week and beating both Percy Jackson and Wolfman, movies that are only on their second week. Avatar's in its tenth. No, it didn't spend as many weeks at number one as Titanic, but a 30% drop after a holiday weekend and another $16.1 million demonstrate this movie's continuing ticket demand.

The other Oscar contender in the top ten, Crazy Heart, moved up a spot with a slight 30% drop to $3 million. Just ten weeks into its run, the movie is positively fresh when compared to the other nominees, which could help when it comes time for Academy members to cast their votes.

This Friday, the buddy comedy Cop Out will hit theatres along with a true product of our health and environmentally conscious times, "tap water made me insane" horror movie The Crazies.