'Couples Retreat' finds love at the box office

By Sarah Sluis

Couples Retreat opened well above expectations, earning $35.3 million. Attendance was strong among women and a thirty-plus crowd more likely to be married and appreciate the relationship humor. I think ensemble romantic comedies will (and should) become more popular, since they help avoid the repetitiveness of the genre and showcase supporting characters. Without being saddled with going through all the hoops of the genre, characters with more fleeting storylines often create the most memorable, and humorous, parts of the movie.

The other big success in the top ten is Paranormal Activity, with went from twentieth to fifth this week and racked up an astonishing $44,163 per theatre at 160 locations--enough to earn $7 million despite its minuscule amount of locations. When our executive editor Kevin Lally reviewed the film, he noted that

"its achingly slow buildup is a test not just of an audience's patience

but the power of hype surrounding the latest alternative scary movie." Well, it appears the movie has harnessed the power of hype. Since most horror movies

are more about imagination and mystery than actual scares, what initial

audiences view as banal becomes tauntingly suspenseful for those coming

because of word-of-mouth. The tagline, "the first-ever major release decided by you,"

encapsulates the movie's success: a participatory horror experience

with most of the scares determined by you. Made for just $16,000, the horror movie gained traction thanks to a successful marketing campaign, which limited screenings to college towns at midnight, while those in other communities could "demand" the movie online.

Critical darling An Education brought in $40,500 per screen at its four locations, an auspicious start for the platform release. Chris Rock's Good Hair earned $1.1 million at its 186 locations. Its $6,000 per screen was better than most of the wide releases, but low considering the amount of publicity generated by Chris Rock's television appearances.

The Toy Story/Toy Story 2 release earned another $7.6 million it its second week, and many suspect Disney will extend its run for another week. The re-release has racked up $22.6 million in two weeks, and because of the Columbus Day school holiday, it will likely have another weekend-level gross today.

Among returning films, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs held on the strongest, falling just 25% to bring in another $12 million. With a total gross of $96 million, it should cross the $100 million mark this week. In its second week, Zombieland brought in another $15 million with a 40% drop, which is on the small side for a horror film. Whip It failed to catch on in its second weekend, a tragedy in my opinion, though it dropped 40% to Invention of Lying's 52%.

This Friday, children's book adaptation Where the Wild Things Are will open along with Law Abiding Citizen, a thriller about a serial killer.

'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' captures $29 million from family audiences

By Sarah Sluis

As predicted, family-friendly Beverly Hills Chihuahua snagged the top spot this weekend, coming in just below the $30 million mark with a $29 million box-office take.  Families comprised 70% of the audience. In a week where most releases dropped 50% or less, competing family film Igor dropped 68.4% as families flocked to the new entry.

Other newcomer Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist finished at number three with $12 million, and execs expect strong word-of-mouth will carry the film through several more weeks with below-average box-office drops.  The field is favorable: no teen movies will release next week, and the three consecutive weeks will see Sex Drive (Oct 17), High School Musical 3 (Oct 24), and Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Oct. 31) release, none of which have a perfectly overlapping audience with Nick & Norah.  Both Michael Cera and Kat Dennings are reaching new levels of awareness among audiences, which makes me suspect that regardless of box office take, this film will be revisited in years to come as a launch pad for their stardom.

Dueling satires An American Carol ($3.8 million) and Religulous ($3.5 million) both finished in the top
ten. While below An American Carol, Religulous' highly targeted distribution strategy that emphasized running in theatres where political films like Farenheit 9/11 played well gave it an $6,972 per-theatre average, three times that of American Carol.

Eagle Eye, now the only substantial action film in the market, dropped a minimal 39% and finished at number two with $17.7 million.

Fireproof also dropped a minimal amount (40%) and took in another $4 million

With the crowded week, a few new releases premiered out of the top ten.  Flash of Genius finished at number 11 with a $2.3 million take, and Miramax's Blindness took in $2 million.  How to Lose Friends and Alienate People fared the worst, taking in only $1.4 million with an $801 per-theatre average.

Specialty release Rachel Getting Married earned $33,667 per screen opening up in nine locations, an

auspicious start for the film.  Appaloosa made a strong showing in its first week in wide release, finishing at number five and taking in $5 million.  When the film opened in eleven theatres two weeks ago, it made $17,775, half of what Rachel Getting Married pulled in.   While no wide release for Rachel has been set, if it follows in the footsteps of Appaloosa it could have a top ten finish in its future.

Full box office charts available here.