Box Office Report: Release the Kraken

Dude here again. It being Easter, I've succumbed to a Ham-and-Peeps-induced coma. So you know what that means. LAZY NUMBERS REPORTING!!!

This weekend, a lot of movies opened and made money! Some in 3-D! 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. Clash of the Titans (WB)- $61.4, 3777 screens, week 1, $64.0 total

2. Why did I Get Married Too? (LGF) - $30.1, 2155 screens, week 1, $30.1 total

3. How To Train Your Dragon (Par/DW) $29.2, 4060 screens, week 2, $92.3 total

4. The Last Song (BV) - $16.2, 2673 screens, week 1, $25.5 total

5. Alice in Wonderland (BV)- $8.2, 2980 screens, week 5, $309.7 total

6. Hot Tub Time Machine (MGM)- $8.0, 2771 screens, week 2, $27.8 total

7. The Bounty Hunter (Sony) - $6.2, 3118 screens, week 3, $48.9 total

8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Fox) - $5.5, 2842 screens, week 3, $46.2 total

9. She's Out of My League (Par)- $1.4, 1390 screens, week 4, $28.6 total

10. Shutter Island (Par)- $1.4, 1356 screens, week 7, $123.4 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means Clash of the Titans made a bunch of money! Mostly because of 3-D ticket prices, probably, but I'm done bitching about that. Or am I?

Tyler Perry made a sequel that doesn't involve Madea!?!? If his next movie is in 3-D, then Tyler Perry will truly be unstoppable. Like Krull. (See? I didn't stop with the 3-D).

Dear lord, there was a Miley Cyrus movie released this weekend? When will it end? WHEN?!?!?!

Other movies aren't doing so well. But props to Hot Tub Time Machine for not dropping off huge and maintaining some semblance of success, but mostly because I like writing Hot Tub Time Machine as often as possible. (And I don't even get paid to do it).

Below the radar, The Greatest opened up on 8 screens and took in $37,000, which is not exactly the greatest. But that terrible joke is.

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week is Date Night! And more Kraken.

Until next weekend.......



Michael Buble being stalked by a raptor.
(All Numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo)

The Trailer For The Best Movie Of The Year.

There's no denying it.

This is not an April Fool's Day prank. I don't have it in me to do that this year.

Unless that's the April Fool!

Watch that trailer again. I'm gonna go prank call Bill Murray.

It must be some sort of...

Hot Tub Time Machine

I'm not gonna lie to you, it's pretty fuckin funny. Stupid, yes, but it's called Hot Tub Time Machine. You get what you're paying for.

Box Office Report: I'm tired of 3-D edition.

Dude here again. These 3D numbers are getting to be ridiculous. It's getting to the point where no movies will stand a chance against 3D movies. I like 3-D movies, but I also like seeing regular movies. And I don't need to pay these exorbitant prices for the experience of getting a headache.

God, I'm getting old. .

This weekend, holy crap! A 3-D animated movie took the top spot with a larger than normal take! Who could have seen that coming? 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. How To Train Your Dragon (Par/DW) $43.3, 4055 screens, week 1, $43.3 total

2. Alice in Wonderland (BV)- $17.3, 3384 screens, week 4, $293.1 total

3. Hot Tub Time Machine (MGM)- $13.6, 2754 screens, week 1, $13.6 total

4. The Bounty Hunter (Sony) - $12.4, 3074 screens, week 2, $38.8 total

5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Fox) - $10.0, 3083 screens, week 2, $35.7 total

6. She's Out of My League (Par)- $3.5, 2432 screens, week 3, $25.6 total

7. Green Zone (Uni) - $3.3, 2557 screens, week 3, $30.4 total

8. Shutter Island (Par)- $3.1, 2123 screens, week 6, $120.6 total

9. Repo Men (Uni)- $3.0, 2519 screens, week 2, $11.3 total

10. Our Family Wedding (FoxS) - $2.2, 1132 screens, week 3, $17.0 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that when you raise the prices of the 3D tickets (as was reported earlier this week) then the 3D movies are going to make the most money. This is the future of movies, people. Accept it. Thanks James Cameron. Oh, and Dragon made $43 million dollars. Yay.

The lack of 3D screens deflated Alice's take a little bit, but still took second place. I refer you to the previous paragraph for the "Yay" comment.

Sadly, this oversaturation of family films in 3D made an uphill climb even steeper for the beloved Hot Tub Time Machine. A $13 million opening is fine, yes, but really people, why didn't more of you go see Hot Tub Time Machine? Unless you all bought tickets to the 3D movies and snuck into it. Maybe that's what happened. That's what I'll tell myself so that I can sleep better at night.

Nobody seems to really care about the other movies out. However, it should be noted for the first time in FIFTEEN WEEKS (!) Avatar has left the top ten. Farewell you creepy blue digital bastard. Thanks for changing the game. In the wrong way.

Below the radar, Atom Egoyan's Chloe opened up on 350 screens and took in about $1 million dollars. There was no 3D, but there is Liam Neeson. And we all know that Liam Neeson can do whatever the hell he wants, especially if it includes a nude Amanda Seyfried. Which this movie may or may not have.

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week, Liam Neeson releases the Kraken with Clash of the Titans, which is thankfully being presented in pedestrian two dimensions, or you can be a man and see it in 3-D!!!! Oh, and a Tyler Perry movie opens, also possibly in 3D.

Until next weekend.......




(All Numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo)

Han's Realization

Box Office REPOrt: Repo Men didn't fare as well as the others.

Dude here again. I'm very excited to be presenting you the numbers this week. Not for any selfish reasons at all. It's because I enjoy writing them. I enjoy getting up at the crack of 11:30 (Pacific Time) stumbling my way to the computer, reading numbers, writing numbers, hitting the crack pipe, coming up with witty things to say about movies making money. I'm living the dream, people!

Provided the dream involves being paid in candy.

This weekend, a showdown at the... no, it's Alice again. 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. Alice in Wonderland (BV)- $34.5, 3739 screens, week 3, $265.8 total

2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Fox) - $21.8, 3077 screens, week 1, $21.8 total

3. The Bounty Hunter (Sony) - $21.0, 3074 screens, week 1, $21.0 total

4. Repo Men (Uni)- $6.1, 2521 screens, week 1, $6.1 total

5. She's Out of My League (Par)- $6.0, 2958 screens, week 2, $19.9 total

6. Green Zone (Uni) - $5.9, 3004 screens, week 2, $24.7 total

7. Shutter Island (Par)- $4.7, 2704 screens, week 5, $115.7 total

8. Avatar (Fox) $4.0, 1236 screens, week 14, $736.8 total

9. Our Family Wedding (FoxS) - $3.8, 1609 screens, week 2, $13.6 total

10. Remember Me (Sum)- $3.3, 2215 screens, week 2, $13.3 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that anyone releasing anything seems to be in a fight to reach second place. And as my high school track coach once told me, second place is really the first loser. (Note, I wasn't on the track team, I just heard him say that once). But Alice continues to rake in the green, thanks to the 3-D and everyone's fascination with the source material. Or love of Johnny Depp. Or all of the above. I don't know, I still haven't seen it yet.

In a surprise move, Diary of a Wimpy Kid took second place over the much more hyped (and the absolutely dreadful) Bounty Hunter. Sure, both took in around $21 million, but let's be honest, unless you're a kid who knows the books or a parent who's forced to take them, you wouldn't expect it to do that well. Kudos! As for the Bounty Hunter, you know what you've done.

Alas, poor Repo Men. Looks like the film couriers will be Repo-ing this one in 2 weeks. Damn shame, really, as it's a pretty fun flick and it deserved an audience. Poor Universal, between this and the steep drop off of Green Zone, they better hope they have an impressive summer, otherwise more heads will roll. (Although that means I could be running things there this time next year!)

Avatar seems to be slowing down, eh? Strangely enough, because it didn't win the Bst Picture, my esteem for it has risen immeasurably. I want to see it again in IMAX now, and I don't mind paying for it.

Below the radar, The Runaways, a movie with Dakota Fanning and K-Stew about the chick band from the 70s that promises a kiss between them opened up on 244 screens and took in $803,000. Impressive for a film I'm told "makes you feel creepy, like you want to go door-to-door and announce yourself to your neighbors." Also, the Hubble 3-D movie opened up, which I am all for. It took in $453,000 on 39 screens. Take THAT, Avatar!

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week, four words: Hot. Tub. Time. Machine.

Until next weekend.......


(All Numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo)

Let's Get Sushi and Not.. Oh wait, wrong movie.

I checked out Repo Men. I dug Repo Men. I suggest you do the same.

If not for me, at least do it for Jude Law. Sky Captain needs your help to see his movies.

Predators looks pretty badass

Even if we had to suffer through to AVP movies to get to this point.

More Predators Videos

Between Two Ferns

I wish they would let me do interviews like this.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Ben Stiller from Between Two Ferns

Reviews and stuff

Yeah, I've been slacking, but I moved. And now, my laptop decided to shut down on me, which is AWESOME!

Anyway, I managed to write a few reviews and pieces. One's for Shutter Island, this one's for The Crazies, and this is for She's Out of My League.

Then, for extra added bonus pleasure, here's a piece about Five Director's Cuts that are better than the original Theatrical Release. (I wrote it awhile back, and needed something for the site to make up for my 3 week internet-less dwelling.

Enjoy!

Box Office Report: now in 4D!!!!

Dude here again. Trying to get back in the swing of things. Thankfully the box office numbers have been generous. Have you heard there's some bit of legislation that will actually let you bet on what movie is going to be number one at the box office? That's both ridiculous and fantastic.

And what's best is that if it goes through, that makes me a guru!

This weekend, a number of films are released in the hopes that they'll knock down the 3-D champ, and they all fail. 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. Alice in Wonderland (BV)- $62.0, 3728 screens, week 2, $208.6 total

2. Green Zone (Uni) - $14.5, 3003 screens, week 1, $14.5 total

3. She's Out of My League (Par)- $9.6, 2956 screens, week 1, $8.3 total

4. Remember Me (Sum)- $8.3, 2212 screens, week 1, $8.3 total

5. Shutter Island (Par)- $8.1, 3356 screens, week 4, $108.0 total

6. Our Family Wedding (FoxS) - $7.6, 1605 screens, week 1, $7.6 total

7. Avatar (Fox) $6.6, 1718 screens, week 13, $730.3 total

8. Brooklyn's Finest (Over) - $4.29, 1939 screens, week 2, $21.3 total

9. Cop Out (WB) - $4.23, 2882 screens, week 3, $39.4 total

10. The Crazies (Over)- $3.6, 2359 screens, week 3, $33.3 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means the proliferation of 3-D titles in the future are going to make life difficult for movies that just want to tell a story in 2-D, sans spectacle. Tim Burton's Alice took the top spot once again, and made an obscene amount of money once again, but the difference between the one and two spots again are a bit distressing. Sure it will die out, like all trends, but we have to act now, people! If we don't start living in two dimensions, then what kind of world do we expect to have for your children?

Green Zone, or as everybody else is calling it Bourne Minus Bourne, took second place, but a far from respectable take considering how well Bourne movies do. Of course nobody goes to see Iraq war movies, not even the one that won Best Picture this year, so that might have something to do with it.

She's Out of My League took the hint and didn't attract too many people. Now She will be Out of My Local Movie Theater! (They need to pay me for these bon mots of brilliance). And Remember Me shows that there are far too many puns to be regarding a film's audience. Oh, and that Robert Pattinson can't open a movie to save his life unless he gets all sparkly in the sunshine. Stupid Twilight.

Our Family Wedding opened up, and aside from a giant billboard I saw up the street that's in front of the studio that made the film, I haven't seen any bit of advertising at all for the flick. I had no idea it actually came out, and apparently, neither did you. Hopefully it will eventually find an audience, but it was just a bad weekend to come out.

Below the radar, a movie called The Exploding Girl opened up, and I'm fairly sure it's not a Japanese movie which means that the title is probably metaphoric and the movie is probably boring. Or nowhere near as awesome as something called Exploding Girl should be. Anyway, it opened on one screen and took in $6000. DO the math to realize how much less that is than Alice in Wonderland. The answer may surprise you.

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week, a few more movies try but will ultimately bow before the Alice, including an awesome looking sci-fi flick called Repo Men that stars Jude Law, which means I am sold on it!

Until next weekend.......


(Alright, so they're 3-Ds. Sue me)

(All Numbers courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com)

Treat yourself to this terrific trailer.

It pretty much sums up my feelings about Oscarbation movies.

The return of the Box Office Report!

Dude here again. I've been out on sabbatical the past couple of weeks, as I've been moving into a new place, and had a ludicrous ordeal of unfortunate events in an attempt to get hooked up to the interwebs. It's long and stupid, and still not totally resolved, but I have a basic use and can at least give you some ridiculously large box office numbers.

Truth be told, though, I really didn't miss much, right?

This weekend, a juggernaut of an opening for Tim Burton leaves everything else hanging it's head in shame. 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. Alice in Wonderland (BV)- $116.3, 3728 screens, week 1, $116.3 total

2. Brooklyn's Finest (Over) - $13.5, 1936 screens, week 1, $13.5 total

3. Shutter Island (Par)- $13.3, 3178 screens, week 3, $95.8 total

4. Cop Out (WB) - $9.1, 3150 screens, week 2, $32.3 total

5. Avatar (Fox) $7.7, 2163 screens, week 12, $720.1 total

6. The Crazies (Over)- $7.0, 2479 screens, week 2, $27.4 total

7. Percy Jackson and The Olympians... (Fox) - $5.1, 2994 screens, week 4, $78.0 total

8. Valentine's Day (WB)- $4.2, 3040 screens, week 4, $106.4 total

9. Crazy Heart (FoxS)- $3.3, 1274 screens, week 12, $29.5 total

10. Dear John (ScrGm) - $2.8, 2496 screens, week 5, $76.6 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means HOLY CRAP! That's an obscene amount of money. Complain all you want about Avatar's increased 3-D ticket prices, the same can be said about Alice. Even more so, being that the flick can run more times a day than Avatar could. Still, that's an ass load of cash to overhaul. I'm sure it broke records, but I'm just too tired to look them up.

Brooklyn's Finest, you opened respectably for yourself. You're just $103 million off from the first place. But let's be honest, nobody saw that coming. Well done, and it's nice to see Wesley Snipes on a screen again.

Shutter island, the previous number one movie, might be the number 2, but it still doesn't forgive the ridiculous overuse of the word "Marshall" spoken with obnoxious Bah-ston accents for two and a half hours. (Yet, I still liked the flick!) Cop Out hasd become Kevin Smith's highest grossing movie, which is good for him.

Do you realize that, for about a day, the number one movie of this year was Valentine's Day? Think about what that means.

Crazy Heart, still digging that ninth place spot, but watch it go up as soon as Jeff Bridges wins the Oscar. Update: He did win it!. Way to go, The Dude! He even sounded like The dude in his acceptance speech. That's just the tops.

Below the radar, I got nothing, really. It's all about the Alice in Wonderland, and the state of 3-D prices.

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week, I', predicting that Alive will continue to reign, as Matt Damon tries to recapture the Bourne magic and kick someone's ass while wearing a ridiculous scarf. Seriously, check out the poster, you'll see.

Until next weekend.......

Scream of the Bikini screenings this weekend!

ATTENTION L.A. READERS: SCREAM OF THE BIKINI SCREENINGS THIS WEEKEND!!!

Greetings gang. Sorry for the geographically localized post, but I wanted to let viewers in the greater Los Angeles area know of a few screenings of this ridiculous-hilarious-sexy-crazy movie I saw called Scream of the Bikini that will be playing in town this weekend!

A lost classic from South American director Fernando Fernandez, Scream of the Bikini is an action spy thriller thought lost to the ages in the 1960s, recently discovered, then translated into English by Germans where something obviously got lost in the translation. (Sort of like what they did with the Metropolis restoration, but with more bikinis and sexy intrigue). The film focuses on the adventures of supermodels by day/sexy secret agents by night Jasmine Orosco and Paola Apanapel who engage in intrigue, espionage, adventure, excitement, vespas, and pillow fights! Pajama-clad pillow fights! Between two gorgeous girls!

I feel the need to repeat the Hot Lady Pillow Fight Action, as that's pretty much all I ever want out of a movie.

Scream of the Bikini is winner of Best Comedy at the ThrillSpy International Film Festival AND 3 Maverick Movie Awards including Best Director. Scream of the Bikini is a hilarious bastard offspring of Barberella, Modesty Blaise, James Bond, and What's Up Tiger Lily.

The movie will be showing this Friday and Saturday, February 19th and 20th at the Laemmle Sunset 5 at midnight! It's a great flick to see with an audience (and with a little buzz, so feel free to have a cocktail beforehand). So if you're around and want to see the aforementioned hot chicks with pillows and vespas, please check it out and help support some indie cinema!

Here is the link to buy tickets at the Laemmle for Friday and for Saturday

And the Facebook Links: 
For the event: 
For the fan site

And the link to the official movie site

Dolph Sings!

Let's be honest, this is the greatest thing you will see all day. Probably the greatest thing this week, maybe of the month, and definitely in the top ten of the year.

More friends across the interwebz

Rob Grace, another friend of the blog (and featured extra in the Royal Tennembaums) is interviewed in this piece for Backstage. I actually saw the play he speaks of, and it was indeed a unique performance. And I admit, I am one of those who believed the play was written for the space. But then again, I also believed it to be a post-apocalyptic story, of which I am most certainly wrong.

Box Office Report: Valentine's Edition

Dude here again. It seems the reign of Avatar is crumbling slightly, and it's for the best. It's time to move on to new things, and progress forward. We've spent our time on Pandora, and it's a place we can always revisit on one way or another. But more movies need to come out, more unexplored worlds that require our attention. And that's okay.

Unless all these movies are in 3-D, because that's a trend ready to burn out fast. (And furious).

This weekend, a crowded "holiday" weekend slate comes in and cleans house.. 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. Valentine's Day (WB)- $52.4, 3665 screens, week 1, $52.4 total

2. Percy Jackson and The Olympians... (Fox) - $31.1, 3356 screens, week 1, $31.1 total

3. The Wolfman (Uni) - $30.6, 3222 screens, week 1, $30.6 total

4. Avatar (Fox) $22.0, 2685 screens, week 9, $659.6 total

5. Dear John (ScrGm) - $15.3, 2975 screens, week 2, $53.1 total

6. The Tooth Fairy (Fox) - $5.6, 2748 screens, week 4, $41.5 total

7. From Paris With Love (LGF)- $4.7, 2722 screens, week 2, $15.8 total

8. Edge of Darkness (WB)- $4.5, 2615 screens, week 3, $36.0 total

9. Crazy Heart (FoxS)- $4.0, 1005 screens, week 9, $16.5 total

10. When In Rome (BV)- $3.4, 2125 screens, week 3, $26.0 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means the shame of Dear John has NOTHING on the shame of Valentine's Day taking in that obscene amount of money. On the one hand, I'm happy for Garry Marshall, who is truly one of the nicest men on Earth. But this also means we'll be treated to more vapid romantic ensemble "comedies" centered around holidays. While this bodes well for my "Arbor Day" script, it does not bode well for humankind.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief wins the race for longest title, but failed to capture some of the Harry Potter magic Fox was hoping for. Despite hiring the latter film's director. Still, a very respectable opening, and better than previous attempts to cash in on Potter. (Which also never seem to work).

The Wolfman finally saw a release! And it seems to have attracted enough interested folk to also have a respectable opening! Not bad, considering everything it took to actually get that movie on a screen. Of course if it continues success, that means more updated (or rebooted) monster flicks. Most likely in 3-D, but only after the fact.

Everything else seems status quo, returning to normal box office patterns and routines. Nothing too shocking, nothing Earth shattering. I feel this is because Avatar broke almost every record out there already, so it's not going to make that much of a difference what comes out. Even though Avatar only dropped 3 percent from last week's take. That movie's unstoppable. Until it gets kicked off the 3-D screens for all the other 3-D fare we're about to be assaulted with.

Below the radar, My Name Is Khan, which could be a documentary about either Ghengis Khan or Ricardo Montalban (Ed. Note: It's Neither) opened up on 120 screens to take in $1.8 million. Impressive. as it's also the highest per screen average of the whole group. Even more impressive? I have no idea what this movie is.

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week, Scorsese finally gets to show us Shutter Island, which means I don't have to see that damn trailer anymore!

Until next weekend.......


(All Numbers courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com)

Weekend Round Up!

There's a couple of things stirring up on the old internets that are worthy of your interest.



"IT'S A TRAP!"

First up, another wacky editorial over at Moviesonline, this time about bad date movies.

There's also a review for From Paris With Love and District B13: Ultimatum up there.



PARKOUR!

Next, friend of the blog Brian Dickett has finally granted an interview! Here's his press release:

This is Brian Dickett. I'm sending you all a quick update on some of the exciting projects I worked on over the past year. I was interviewed by an online magazine called "Eerie Digest," which showcases people who work in the film industry on projects of a supernatural nature. Among the topics I discuss are:

1. "Night of the Demons" - a feature film where I was the Lead Digital Artist.
2. "Monster Mutt" - a fantastic feature film for kids that I was delighted to be the Visual Effects Supervisor on.
3. "Ghost Writer" - a pilot for a TV show for which I was the Second Unit Director, Visual Effects Supervisor, and Editor.
4. PlasterCITY - An amazing Post-Production house in LA where I will be helping with their new visual effects department.

You can read all about it @:
www.eeriedigest.com
Scroll down to find the article, but I'd also encourage you to read the articles with Julian Moss and Joe Taranto. I worked with them on the "Ghost Writer" pilot and they're incredible people.

So check that out at the link provided. It's a fun read of a fascinating man.

(He's somewhere in this picture. At the very least, it's his house. the chap is quite elusive).

And finally, here's, uhhh... CUTE THINGS EXPLODING!!!



This comes courtesy of Andrew Bentler, the man responsible for the opening title sequence for Night 2 of THE STORM! (Also a major force in the Fantastic Mr. Anderson video I'm curiously not posting for once). He's an all around resident genius. They've even got shirts made! Check out his madness.

And why not one more weird thing? Here's a picture of my cup, after I drank most of the root beer that was in it. This picture is not doctored.



Made my day. Hopefully it does the same for you. Pay it forward!

Moviesonline stuff

Things have been starting up again over at the Moviesonline site, and I kicked things off this week with a list of what I consider the best sci-fi flicks of the past decade.

Check it out, why don'tcha?

I'm hoping to do more fun things for them, similar to the Fanastic Mr. Fox video I did some time ago.

What's that? You don't know what Fantastic Mr. Fox thing I speak of? Thankfully YouTube is here to enlighten you.



(There's also a semi-coherent review of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus up, but it's ok because that's a semi-coherent movie).

Box Office Report: The unthinkable has happened!

Dude here again. Well, it finally happened. There are no records left for Avatar to break. It's technically the most successful motion picture in history. It broke the international take last week, and then this previous week, on the day it was nominated for 9 Oscars, it overtook the Titanic record. So there's nothing left to talk about regarding big blue, and it's time to move on.

Oh, and none of you give me that "Adjusted for inflation" bullshit, because that's stupid.

This weekend, a film least likely overtook the champ. And another release didn't overtake the champ. 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. Dear John (ScrGm) - $32.4, 2969 screens, week 1, $32.4 total

2. Avatar (Fox) $23.6, 3000 screens, week 8, $630.4 total

3. From Paris With Love (LGF)- $8.1, 2722 screens, week 1, $8.1 total

4. Edge of Darkness (WB)- $7.0, 3066 screens, week 2, $29.0 total

5. The Tooth Fairy (Fox) - $6.5, 3218 screens, week 3, $34.3 total

6. When In Rome (BV)- $5.5, 2456 screens, week 2, $20.8 total

7. The Book of Eli (WB)- $4.8, 2820 screens, week 4, $82.1 total

8. Crazy Heart (FoxS)- $3.6, 819 screens, week 8, $11.1 total

9. Legion (ScrGm) - $3.4, 2339 screens, week 3, $34.6 total

10. Sherlock Holmes (WB) - $2.6, 1805 screens, week 7, $201.5 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means Dear John, a movie so cloying my ticket stub actually had sap dripping from it, managed to take in an impressive $32 million. It overtakes the Avatar and ensures that we'll have plenty more Nicholas Sparks' weepy adaptations. Hooray for that.

You know what's funny? Avatar arrives, this giant, 800 lb gorilla, and sits on top of the charts demanding money, and everybody pays until the records are broken, then it quietly leaves. At least, that's how I envision it.

John Travolta sent us From Paris With Love. Audiences replied "Return to sender". I love postal humor!

The Academy Award Nominations were announced this week, and the biggest boost given was to Crazy Heart, which actually opened on the same day as Avatar, and is now making an appearance in the top ten. The dude certainly does abide, doesn't he?

That Edge of Darkness flick probably didn't benefit from Mel Gibson calling a dude an asshole live on the air. However, that incident inspired me to actually go check it out now. I have a feeling in real life Mel's as crazy as Riggs. And that's just the tops.

What the hell is The Tooth Fairy still doing in the top 5?

Below the radar, The Red Riding Trilogy opened up on one screen. It took in $15,500 on that one screen. Pretty impressive, but I wonder how many people thought it was some sort of foreign fairy tale adaptation, and not Britain's answer to Zodiac?

So there, you have my amazing break down. Next week, a crap load of movies comes out, including the long awaited Wolfman, and a movie that looks even worse than Dear John AND He's Just Not That Into You COMBINED! It's going to be very exciting. Oh, Percy Jackson's next week, too! I'm willing to bet all the new releases cancel each other out, and Avatar reigns supreme once again. (It won't. That's a horrible bet. Avatar's done, moving on).

Until next weekend.......

(All Numbers courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com)