Box Office Report: Tax Weekend!

Dude here again. For those readers in the states, I'd like to take this moment to remind you that you have two days to finish your taxes. Let me tell you something, if you don't pay those, they come after you. And not all nice, they come at you like you're Wesley Snipes. It's unpleasant and costly, so as a public service reminder, make sure you get those done and postmarked in time. Otherwise, you'll pay amounts of money comparable to this weekend's top movie! (Like that segue?)

This weekend, a large number of movies opens up, and the most insulting one of the bunch takes the number one perch. I almost miss 21 as the number one movie. 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 this column wrong).

1. Prom Night (ScrGms) - $22.7, 2700 screens, week 1, $22.7 total

2. Street Kings (FoxS) - $12.0, 2467 screens, week 1, $12.0 total

3. 21 (Sony)- $11.0, 2736 screens, week 3, $62.2 total

4. Nim's Island (Fox) - $9.0, 3518 screens, week 2, $25.2 total

5. Leatherheads (Uni)- $6.2, 2771 screens, week 2, $21.9 total

6. Horton Hears A Who! (Fox) - $6.0, 3209 screens, week 5, $139.6 total

7. Smart People (Mira) - $4.2, 1106 screens, week 1, $4.2 total

8. The Ruins (P/DW) - $3.2, 2814 screens, week 2, $13.4 total

9. Superhero Movie (Wein/MGM) - $3.1, 2526 screens, week 3, $21.2 total

10. Drillbit Taylor (Par) - $2.0, 2205 screens, week 4, $28.4 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? It means Prom Night is the number one motion picture. Prom Night. A watered down remake of Prom Night made $22 million. In three days. Prom Night. Think about what you've done.

Street Kings, Keanu Reeve's contribution to corrupt cop cinema took in a respectable amount, around $3 million per facial expression. (I keed, Ted, I thought you rocked in the flick). And Smart People proved that audiences don't like to watch smart people unless they're a gentrified group of young geniuses taking down a casino.

21 continues it's impressive staying power, Leatherheads continues to disappoint (despite that winning smile from multi-hypenate George Clooney) and Nim's Island proves that Gerard Butler is fine, but he really does need to continue yelling every line possible. The Ruins seems to not be scaring anyone, I'm guessing due to the R-rating because I refuse to believe that horror fans would choose a remake of Prom Night over this vine infested creeper. Prom Night? Really?

Below the top ten, two films in limited release had better per screen averages than that Prom Night movie I seem to be deriding. The Visitor, the latest from The Station Agent director Thomas McCarthy played on 4 screens and took in $88,000. And Young@Heart, a heartwarming documentary about old people singing, also played on 4 screens and took in $52,300. Impressive bows, and outstanding reviews, should boost the profiles of these films.

And in the "Because It's There" series: The Bucket List took in $353,000 on 390, bringing its grand total to $92,171,000 in 16 weeks. The Bucket List. Think about that one.

There you have my break down. Next week, the latest from the Apatow cannon, Al Pacino runs for his life for an hour and half (almost), and the long awaited showdown between Jackie Chan and Jet Li, which will probably disappoint me.

Until next weekend....
fhha