Box Office Retreat: Couples Edition

Dude here again. There's not too much to say about this new batch of numbers. Well, I'm sure there is, actually. Perhaps countless words! Perhaps I could write an entire dissertation about the numbers generated this weekend. Then they'd think twice about giving Obama that Nobel, and send it directly my way. Alas, you won't get those numbers because it's a slow weekend, and I have to go to a chocolate fair.

How jealous are you all?

This weekend, only one new film was released wide, but some held strong while some gained enormous traction. 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).

1. Couples Retreat (Uni) $35.3, 3000 screens, week 1, $35.3 total

2. Zombieland (Sony)- $15.0, 3038 screens, week 2, $47.8 total

3. Cloudy With A Change Of Meatballs (Sony) - $12.0, 2992 screens, week 4, $96.2 total

4. Toy Story 1&2- 3-D (BV)- $7.6, 1752 screens, week 2, $22.6 total

5. Paranormal Activity (Par) - $7.0, 159 screens, week 3, $8.2 total

6. Surrogates (BV) - $4.1, 2992 screens, week 3, $32.5 total

7. The Invention Of Lying (WB)- $3.3, 1743 screens, week 2, $12.3 total

8. Whip It (FoxS) - $2.8, 1738 screens, week 2, $8.7 total

9. Capitalism: A Love Story (Over) - $2.7, 995 screens, week 3, $9.0 total

10. Fame (MGM)- $2.5, 3110 screens, week 3, $20.0 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that there are two amazing tales to behold. First of is Couples Retreat, which took in $35 million dollars! That's ridiculously huge numbers, and a welcome shot in the arm to Universal, who had a rough summer and allegedly just fired the people in charge of that rough summer. Couples Retreat charmed enough audiences to ensure the further reign of Vince Vaughn.

The other story belongs to Paranormal Activity, the homemade chiller expanded to a whopping 179 screens (2800 fewer screens than Couples Retreat) and started showing more shows per day (as opposed to the midnight-only showings that sold out the past two weekends) and took in $7.0, which places it in fifth place, but it's per screen average was $44,400, more than any other movie this week. Paramount has listened to fans' demands and is releasing the film wide next weekend, but this is quite remarkable, as it rarely happens.

(Off-topic, if Warner Brothers did this with Trick 'r Treat, they would have made a mint. If you don't know what I'm talking about, rent Trick 'r Treat. The new one. Not the Alice Cooper one. Although that's pretty awesome, too).

Certain holdovers continue to do well. Zombieland had a small drop, which makes it a bona fide hit! And audiences love that movie where it rains food. But nobody is seeing any of the other movies, either.

Below the radar, there's a documentary Chris Rock made called Good Hair. It opened on 116 screens, and took in just over $1 million. Interesting what documentaries make money. Also opening, An Education, which features a pretty British lass named Carey Mulligan (and people say she's fantastic in it and could garner "Oscar Buzz") opened up on 4 screens and took in $162,000, which brings the per screen average very close to Paranormal Activity's. But not close enough!

There you have my amazing break down. Next week, we finally get to discover where the wild things are! Plus there's a remake of The Stepfather that nobody really wants.

Until next weekend.......