Top bunk goes to 'The Roommate'

By Sarah Sluis

You have to hand it to The Roommate, which earned $15.6 million from gullible young audiences who hadn't been around for Single White Female. Dismal reviews, like that from The Hollywood Reporter, described the movie as a "made-for-television thriller that will appeal only to younger audiences." But though these high schoolers' ticket purchases may have been an act of youthful inexperience, they knew better than to pay attention. "In the theater where I saw it," Movieline critic Elvis Mitchell comments,"the tedium was broken only by the sound of Angry Birds being played on iPhones."

The Super Bowl caused most films to drop in the 60-70% range from Saturday to Sunday, and Sanctum, which fell 71%, was one of the sporting event's victims. The trapped-in-a-cave movie tallied up just $9.2 million, even with ticket surcharges for 3D and IMAX. Ouch. With a reported budget of $30 million, this is one film that's going to be in the hole for awhile.

The films that fell the least during Super Bowl Sunday were The King's Speech (50% drop) and Yogi Bear (44.9% drop). Though films targeted towards young females have dominated Super Bowl counterprogramming, it appears that families and those seeking specialty fare were more inclined to catch a movie instead of the game. After all, The Roommate fell 65% on Sunday, in line with most of the other top ten films.

Portland-set mumblecore crime thriller (really) Cold Weather brought in $15,000 for IFC Films, a decent one-screen debut. Waiting For Forever, however, earned just $3,000 per screen on three screens. At one point, leading lady Rachel Bilson ("The O.C.") had the cachet of Roommate star Leighton Meester ("Gossip Girl"), but this movie's lackluster performance shows how quickly one can rise and fall.

This Friday will be a crowded one, with four wide releases hitting theatres: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, romantic comedy Just Go With It, 3D animated pick Gnomeo and Juliet, and historic action film The Eagle.