The futuristic thriller “Knowing” leads the pack of three new movies released on Friday, the buddy bromance “I Love You, Man” was second and the Julia Roberts-Clive Owen espionage romance “Duplicity” was third.

“Taken” continues to hold on, now in its 8th week of release, it is losing less than the movies that have been in theaters for fewer weeks, losing 38% of its audience from last week while “Watchmen” lost 62%, “Last House on the Left” lost 58%, and “Race to Witch Mountain” lost 47% of the audience from last week.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Knowing” – $24.81 million (1st week)

2. “I Love You, Man” – $18.00 (1st week)

3. “Duplicity” – $14.40 million (1st week)

4. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $13.00 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 47% from last week)

5. “Watchmen” - $6.73 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 62% from last week)

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I’m not surprised this week either, the Disney Family/Adventure/Remake ”Race to Witch Mountain” pulled in the top bucks at the box office… leaving the “Watchmen” struggling in their battle for justice, I mean, 2nd place.

Also new over the weekend were “The Last House on the Left” (2009) and “Miss March”.   The horror remake gave “Watchmen” a run for its money, while the buddy comedy “Miss March” barely made the top 10.

Word of mouth or bad reviews, or both??   “Watchmen” saw one of the biggest declines in recent memory (67%) for a number one movie after its opening weekend (last week’s $55 million was the biggest opening of the year so far).

“Taken” is holding its own, now in its 7th week of release, it continues to hover around 4th place, losing just 9% of its audience from last week.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $25.00 million (1st week)

2. “Watchmen” - $18.07 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 67% from last week)

3. “The Last House on the Left” (2009) – $14.66 million (1st week)

4. “Taken” – $6.65 million
(7th week, was #4 last week, lost 9% from last week)

5. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $5.13 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 40% from last week)

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No surprise here, as “Watchmen” dominate the box office with more than $55 million in its opening weekend… the biggest opening of the year so far, and while its likely to be number one again next weekend, but will the mixed reviews reduce its box office returns over the following weeks?

“Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” dropped to second after two weeks at the top of the box office, but lost less of its audience than the previous week.  “Slumdog Millionaire” is still seeing returns on its Oscar win for Best Picture, but the box office momentum may be slowing down, as it lost 40% of its audience and slipped down to 4th place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Watchmen” - $55.66 million (1st week)

2. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $8.80 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 46% from last week)

3. “Taken” – $7.45 million
(6th week, was #4 last week, lost 25% from last week)

4. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $6.93 million
(17th week, was #3 last week, lost 42% from last week)

5. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $4.20 million
(8th week, was #6 last week, lost 25% from last week)

6. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $4.02 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, lost 33% from last week)

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“Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” tops the box office for second week, despite losing 60% of its audience.

The Oscar winning bump saw a 45% increase in audience for “Slumdog Millionaire” moving up from 5th to 3rd place.

Another trend of weak post-Oscar offerings is the week’s other new movie “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”… opening in 8th place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $16.50 million
(2nd week at #1, lost 60% from last week)

2. “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” – $12.70 million (1st week)

3. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $12.15 million
(16th week, was #5 last week, gained 45% more from last week)

4. “Taken” – $9.95 million
(5th week, was #3 last week, lost 12% from last week)

5. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $5.88 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 31% from last week)

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It wasn’t the weekend to see romantic comedies or horror moves (that was last week)… during Oscar weekend most moviegoers either saw “Tyler Perry’s Made Goes to Jail” or the Oscar favorite “Slumdog Millionaire”.

The other new movie of the week, “Fired Up” opened in 9th place with just $6 million.

Last week’s number one “Friday the 13th” (2009) dropped to sixth, losing 81% of its audience from the week before… the biggest week-to-week loss by a number one movie so far this year.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $41.12 million (1st week)

2. “Taken” – $11.40 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 40% from last week)

3. “Coraline” – $11.03 million
(3rd week, was #5 last week, lost 25% from last week)

4. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $8.54 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 56% from last week)

5. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $8.05 million
(15th week, was #9 last week, gained 11% more from last week)

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What a Valentine’s gift for movie theaters: a huge $168.12 million weekend… the biggest so far this year… $27 million more than last year’s Valentine’s weekend… and a 28% increase from last weekend.

And it wasn’t even close… with the remake “Friday the 13th” taking in more ($42 million) than the second and third place movies combined, the slasher movie also becomes the biggest opening of the year, passing “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”’s $31 million opening in January. 

Last week’s number one “He’s Just Not That Into You” slipped to second and new movies “Confessions of A Shopaholic” and “The International” opened in fourth and seventh place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Friday the 13th” (2009) – $42.25 million (1st week)

2. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $19.61 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 29% from last week)

3. “Taken” – $19.25 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 6% from last week)

4. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $15.41 million (1st week)

5. “Coraline” – $15.32 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 9% from last week)

6. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $11.70 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, gained 7% more than last week)

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In a wise marketing release, the ensemble romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You” grabs the number one spot one week before Valentine’s Day. 
The four new movies and holdovers “Taken” and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” helped make it a strong $131.54 million weekend at the box office… the 3rd biggest of the year so far and it was up nearly 28% from last weekend.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $27.47 million (1st week)

2. “Taken” – $24.63 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 18% from last week)

3. “Coraline” – $16.34 million (1st week)

4. “The Pink Panther 2″ - $12.00 million (1st week)

5. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $11.00 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 21% from last week)

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New at Theaters (Friday): “Coraline”, “He’s Just Not That Into You”, “Pink Panther 2″, “Push”

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BEST BET: Depends on what kind of movie you’re looking for.  If its a date movie, see “He’s Just Not That Into You” – or wait until next week for Valentine’s Day.  If its an action movie, “Push” may or may not be what you’re looking for, and if its a family movie, the jury’s out on “Coraline” vs. “Pink Panther 2″.

New on DVD (Tuesday): “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”, “The Secret Life of Bees”, “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”, “Bottle Shock”, “Space Buddies”

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BEST BETs: Another week of solid DVD releases, “The Secret Life of Bees” is the most critically acclaimed of the five, but “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist” got pretty good reviews, and ”Bottle Shock” was compared to the popular “Sideways” (2004)… and for families “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” was very well received at the box office.

MY REVIEWS OF OTHER MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS OR AVAILABLE TO RENT: 

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