Box Office Update 10/12-10/14: Tyler Perry overtakes The Game Plan

Tyler Perry came up big, breathing life into the lackluster box office takes of the past few weeks. Sure, this time of year lower grosses are expected, but it is always nice to see a surprise like this. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married topped the box office easily this past weekend, taking in more than $21 million. It topped it's nearest competition by a figure north of $10 million. It was also a film that I missed, a problem that I hope to rectify in the near future. The one thing that I wish is that Perry would drop the possessive from his titles. More of a personal aesthetic than anything else, I don't particularly care for title possessive's (John Carpenter has a habit of doing this to, and Jackie Chan's distributor's like to add his name to titles as well).

The distant second place film is a film that no one expected to still be near the top after three weeks. The Game Plan had the strongest week to week hold of all the returning top ten films. I guess it should not be as surprising as it is. There is no competition in the family film market, and while it doesn't tread any new water the film is a definite crowd pleaser that is benefitting from strong word of mouth. It is going to be Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's biggest film since his top billing debut in The Scorpion King. It may also be interesting to note that Johnson has said The Game Plan will be the last film with 'The Rock' as part of his name (next up is Southland Tales).

Three other films marked their top ten debuts while one other made its return. First up are the two films that were expected to compete for the top spot, instead they duked it out for third. It was a close battle too, with less than $600k between them. The winner is the mediocre crime thriller We Own the Night with its strong cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Duvall. It is a film that had a few good scenes but ultimately disappointed in its conventionalism. Close on its heels is the would-be classic Michael Clayton that could possibly garner George Clooney an Oscar nomination. While I don't think it is as great as others would have you believe, it is still a strong character piece that could have a good run on the big screen.

The only other film to debut in the top ten this week is Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the sequel to the 1998 Oscar winning film Elizabeth, in sixth place. While this film was filled with grandiose pageantry, the substance was a bit lacking. The movie had many visual and aural distractions to keep one from truly getting into the film, and its lackluster offering at the box office could be indicative of a short run. It will likely find its audience once it hits DVD, I bet it will look gorgeous in hi def.

A little further down, in eigth place, Across the Universe made its back into the top ten. The Beatles musical is an amazing theatrical experience and I urge anyone who has the opportunity to get out and see it. The studio is taking a slow roll approach to getting it out, allowing the good word of mouth simmer to help its bottom line. It seems to be working. Hopefully it will continue to spread and allow more of you to get the opportunity to see it.

Next week will see a number of films enter the fray. They include the vampire horror of 30 Days of Night, the awful looking comedy The Comebacks, the Ben Affleck directed/Casey Affleck starring drama Gone Baby Gone, the post 9/11 thriller Rendition, Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour (that I know nothing about), and the Halle Berry/Benicio del Toro drama Things We Lost in the Fire. Crowded week.

Five movies dropped off the top ten this week: Good Luck Chuck (11), 3:10 to Yuma (12), Feel the Noise (13), Mr. Woodcock (14), and The Brave One (19).

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	N	Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?	$21,353,789	$21,353,789	1
2	1	The Game Plan	$11,037,505	$58,978,627	3
3	N	We Own the Night	$10,826,287	$10,826,287	1
4	22	Michael Clayton	$10,373,422	$11,450,629	2
5	2	The Heartbreak Kid	$7,280,450	$25,856,010	2
6	N	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	$6,153,075	$6,153,075	1
7	3	The Kingdom	$4,608,025	$39,996,300	3
8	12	Across the Universe	$3,824,988	$12,734,454	5
9	4	Resident Evil: Extinction	$2,646,261	$48,063,414	4
10	5	The Seeker: The Dark is Rising	$2,212,955	$7,167,028	2

Box Office Predictions Recap
Wow, bad choices by me this week, again. When it comes to the returning films I did decently, I seem to have the most trouble picking the newcomers. This time of year is particularly tough to guess what is going to click with audiences. It is easy during the summer when each weekend brings with it a new blockbuster. For some reason I figured that names like Clooney, Wahlberg, and Phoenix would have been bigger draws. On the other side of the coin, I need to stop underestimating Tyler Perry. The man is definitely a strong draw, all four of his films have had strong openings. Better luck next week, I guess.

Anyway, here is how I picked the field:

Actual	Prediction	Title	Wknd Gross	Prediction
4	1	Michael Clayton	$10,373,422	$22 million
3	2	We Own the Night	$10,826,287	$17 million
2	3	The Game Plan	$11,037,505	$10 million
5	4	The Heartbreak Kid	$7,280,450	$7.5 million
1	5	Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?	$21,353,789	$6 million
7	6	The Kingdom	$4,608,025	$5.5 million
6	7	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	$6,153,075	$5 million
20	8	The Final Season	$664,351	$4 million
9	9	Resident Evil:Extinction	$2,646,261	$2.5 million
10	10	The Seeker: The Dark is Rising	$2,212,955	$1.5 million