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)

(more…)

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)

(more…)

“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)

(more…)

New at Theaters (Friday): “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience”, “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”, “I’ve Loved You So Long” (Grand Rapids: new at Celebration! Rivertown)

Watch the trailer for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience”

Watch the trailer for ”Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”

Watch the trailer for “I’ve Loved You So Long”

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BEST BET: See the drama with early oscar buzz “I’ve Loved You So Long” (Kristin Scott Thomas)… or get caught up on any movies you may have missed in theaters or coming out on DVD.

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New on DVD (Tuesday): “Extreme Movie”, “Sex Drive”, “The Haunting of Molly Hartley”, “What Just Happened”

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BEST BET(s): Not a great crop of movies coming out this week, but if you’ve seen everything else I’m recommending below, go ahead and rent “What Just Happened?”…. Robert DeNiro leads a great cast in a movie making fun… of the movie making process.

YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN: “Extreme Movie” is an “R” rated spoof-movie, “Sex Drive” is an “R” rated teen comedy about driving a long distance to hook-up, and ”The Haunting of Molly Hartley” is a horror movie that had a shaky showing at the box office and got mixed reviews.

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

(more…)

New on DVD (Tuesday): “Extreme Movie”, “Sex Drive”, “The Haunting of Molly Hartley”, “What Just Happened”

.

. 

.

.

.

BEST BET(s): Not a great crop of movies coming out this week, but if you’ve seen everything else I’m recommending below, go ahead and rent “What Just Happened?”…. Robert DeNiro leads a great cast in a movie making fun… of the movie making process.

YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN: “Extreme Movie” is an “R” rated spoof-movie, “Sex Drive” is an “R” rated teen comedy about driving a long distance to hook-up, and ”The Haunting of Molly Hartley” is a horror movie that had a shaky showing at the box office and got mixed reviews.

- -

New at Theaters (Friday): “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience”, “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”, “I’ve Loved You So Long” (Grand Rapids: new at Celebration! Rivertown)

Watch the trailer for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience”

Watch the trailer for ”Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”

Watch the trailer for “I’ve Loved You So Long”

.

.

BEST BET: See the drama with early oscar buzz “I’ve Loved You So Long” (Kristin Scott Thomas)… or get caught up on any movies you may have missed in theaters or coming out on DVD.

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

(more…)