Max Payne Beats W. at the Box Office
Posted by John Cairns (jcairns@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 19, 2008
Well, it was a fairly predictable weekend at the theaters for a change, as I finally got a few of my predictions sort-of right. Max Payne wound up winning the box office with a haul of $18 million, and W. did about as much business as expected, coming in at around $10 million.
I suppose the surprise is that The Secret Life of Bees finished ahead of W. in the gross this weekend, because Bees rolled out on much fewer screens: around 1,591 compared to over 2,000 for Oliver Stone’s flick. Still, it did a lot better than a lot of people expected, including myself.
Overall, though, it was a very predictable week. I suppose it will be a surprise to some people that Sex Drive only did $3.5 million, worse than what even I had predicted. I can’t say I am surprised. After all, the United States of America is the land of religion and uptight people — folks who would much rather watch family movies starring cute dogs and other lovable animals. This is DEFINITELY not Sweden or Holland we’re talking about here.
I have to wonder how much cash Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno movie will make, given what went down with Sex Drive. It ought to make more money, but I notice they’re having some problems getting ads in the paper for a flick with “porno” in the title. Then again, who reads the paper anymore anyway? We’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks.
The top ten, as follows:
| 1. Max Payne | $18 million |
| 2. Beverly Hills Chihuahua | $11.2 million |
| 3. The Secret Life of Bees | $11.1 million |
| 4. W. | $10.5 million |
| 5. Eagle Eye |
$7.3 million |
| 6. Body of Lies |
$6.8 million |
| 7. Quarantine | $6.3 million |
| 8. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist | $3.9 million |
| 9. Sex Drive | $3.6 million |
| 10. Nights in Rodanthe | $2.7 million |
Not much more to add than that, folks! Next Friday at the Reject Report we preview yet another “nice, clean movie” that is sure to make a ton of money: High School Musical 3.
The new James Bond flick can’t come fast enough for my liking, given what we’re in for next weekend.
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