Box Office Report: Holy Shit That's a lot of money!

Dude here again. Once more, bringing you the important numbers on the hour, on the half hour, and when it breaks. Except not really. Especially when they release the correct numbers, and all my hard work from Sunday morning (well, afternoon) is null and void. But, it is the NOW that matters, as in "It doesn't matter if it's right. It matters if it's right NOW".

This weekend, we finally have a nice, record breaking weekend again, courtesy of the world's greatest man Will Smith. And a surprising showing from some chipmunks. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates, the actuals will be available on Monday. Just to prove me wrong).

1. I Am Legend (WB) - $76.5, 3606 screens, week 1, $76.5 total

2. Alvin and the Chipmunks (Fox) - $45.0, 3475 screens, week 1, $45.0 total

3. The Golden Compass (NL) - $9.0, 3528 screens, week 2, $40.9 total

4. Enchanted (BV) - $6.0, 3066 screens, week 4, $92.2 total

5. No Country For Old Men (Mira)- $3.0, 1348 screens, week 6, $33.5 total

6. The Perfect Holiday (YFG) - $2.9 1307 screens, week 1, $3.6 total

7. Fred Claus (WB) - $2.305, 2750 screens, week 6, $68.9 total

8. This Christmas (ScrGems) - $2.30, 1921 screens, week 4, $46.0 total

9. Atonement (Focus) - $1.8, 117 screens, week 2, $2.9 total

10. August Rush (WB) - $1.7, 2007 screens, week 4, $28.0 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Basically, WIll Smith can do no wrong. You put him in a romantic comedy, he scores. Drama about a homeless man taking care of his son? Double word score. Make him the only person in your bleak, depressing sci-fi apocalyptic film released right before Christmas? Out of the freakin' park! I Am Legend took the record for the biggest December opening weekend, and that beats all those Rings movies. All of them! Congratulations to Mr. Smith, as I'm pretty positive he might win the US Presidential election next year, without even trying.

Hey, since a fair majority of folks saw this film, let me ask you this: How awesome was that Dark Knight trailer?!? That was worth the price of admission alone.

In second place is Alvin and the Chipmunks, which took in $45 million. I'll repeat that, Alvin and the Chipmunks made 45 million dollars in three days. The movie about the singing rodents with fairly annoying voices took in forty-five million dollars. If I Am Legend was not released this weekend, Alvin and the Chipmunks would have shocked the world by accumulating.... you see where I'm headed with this.

Interesting to note: There were some bad winter storms in the north and east, which usually deters people and diminishes box office returns. But this is not the case. See aforementioned forty five million... Although, pretty much every other movie is taking in nothing. Some movie called Perfect Holiday also opened and not too well. Atonement did quite well for it's screen count.

Below the radar, awards films are starting to come out, and make a little coin. The first film from Francis Ford Coppola in ten years, Youth Without Youth, opened on 6 screens and took in $27,800. Not bad. The Kite Runner, a movie with a title that sounds like a parody of prestige pictures, took in $451,000 on 35 screens. But once again, the highest per screen average of the week belongs to Juno, which took in $1,440,000 on 40 screens, averaging $36,000. Which is still nothing compared to the $45 million for the Chipmunks.

And in the "Because It's There" series: Lions For Lambs took in $31,000 on 116 screens, bringing it's grand total to $14,893,000 in 6 weeks.

There you have my break down. Next week, Nicolas Cage returns to figure out the DaVinci Code again, but, you know, in America. And I think there's a singing Johnny Depp in a Tim Burton movie. And lest us not forget a man called Cox. It's a plethora of joy!

Until next weekend....