'Alice' reigns for a third week with 'Wimpy Kid' not far behind

By Sarah Sluis

Alice in Wonderland enjoyed a third week at #1, with another $34.5 million and a sub-50% drop. Next week the Tim Burton fantasy will lose 3D screens and viewers to DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon, but its $265 million cumulative domestic gross (to date) puts it in good shape as it finishes out its run.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid was the surprise #2, earning $21.6 million to edge out The Bounty Hunter. Making good on the adage that girls are willing to see movies with boy stars (the reverse is not held to be true), the movie drew 50% males and 50% females despite its all-boy cast. Strong advance tickets sales from its fan base made for a solid weekend as a whole, with the movie playing consistently Friday through Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised to see a sequel to this movie if the stars' puberty doesn't get in the way.

The Bounty Hunter debuted in third place with $21 million. Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler were able to wield their star power to their advantage despite critical cries that they were phoning it in. The movie earned just a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, bad even for a movie from the romantic comedy genre. I guess the addition of the "thriller/action" element helped plunge this movie even farther down in critical reception. I have stronger hopes for Aniston's next romantic comedy project, The Switch (previously titled The Baster), which will release this August.

Universal's Repo Men failed to meet even the studio's modest expectations, tallying a meager $6.1 million. The sci-fi clunker had little to enchant audiences. And with the health care reform bill passing Sunday night, the idea of a futuristic corporation repossessing replacement organs is a fear far from most Americans' minds.

The Runaways opened to $803,000 in limited release, for a per-theatre average of $3,200. The opening is on the low side for a movie with a planned expansion, so this rock biopic will need to find a way to gain speed, not lose it, as it moves into wide release. If the per-theatre average goes down, as it is apt to do in subsequent weeks, this movie will not be in good shape.

Greenberg kept its distribution to three theatres for a high per-theatre average of $40,000. The neurotic dramedy from director Noah Baumbach will also expand this Friday, and its strong debut should carry it into a profitable second week.

This Friday, How to Train Your Dragon will swoop into theatres alongside '80s retro-comedy Hot Tub Time Machine.