This weekend past saw Beverly Hills Chihuahua repeat as the number one film in the country. To say I was surprised would be something of an understatement. I guess I should not be surprised. With the dearth of across the board family films out right now (not counting fantasy fare like City of Ember), it should be almost expected that something like this would be the biggest draw for two weeks.
With the current economic situation, it seems people want some escapist fare, and why would I begrudge that? I like escapism as much as the next movie goer, even though I have little interest in seeing the talking dogs. It should come as no surprise that Body of Lies failed to light up the box office, with its Middle East setting. Despite being a quality film, any movie with current political overtones generally fails to light up the box office.
Now, while I shouldn't be surprised by Body of Lies failure to open strongly at the box office, I am. This is a big budget film directed by a someone with a proven track record and name recognition in Ridley Scott, not to mention a couple of first rate actors in Leonardo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe. I guess it will have to wait for DVD to really make its money back. Just do not let this soft open dissuade you from seeing it on the big screen, as it is a really good film. Picture James Bond minus the suave and set in a more realistic world.
Landing right in between the pups and the titans is a new horror film, Quarantine. It is a near shot for shot remake of a Spanish film called [REC]. This opened well and deservedly so. If you are looking for a film with scares, this delivers, it has blood, jump scares that work, and an overwhelming sense that there is no escape. So, if you want some horror, real horror, and don't want to wait for the overly plotted bloodletting of Saw V, this is for you.
Two other films made their debuts on the top ten. First is The Express, the story of Ernie Davis who was the first African American to win the Heisman trophy. It looks good, although I have grown weary of these inspirational tales. It looks well made and well acted, and I am sure I will see it at some point, I am just not sure when. For those who have seen it, how was it?
The other new face is The Duchess, expanding into wide release here in its fourth weekend. This costume drama is very well acted, if a little familiar. Much like the inspirational sports drama, this is a genre where one well crafted film is just like a number of others. It has its audience and seems likely to garner Oscar attention for costumes and set design.
Next week will see competition arrive in the form of Mark Wahlberg's video game adaptation Max Payne, Oliver Stone's W., the raunchy Sex Drive, and the Dakota Fanning/Queen Latifah drama The Secret Life of Bees
Four movies dropped off the top ten this week: Lakeview Terrace (12), Religulous (13), Burn After Reading (14), and An American Carol (15).
| This Week | Last Week | Title | Wknd Gross | Overall | Week in release |
| 1 | 1 | Beverly Hills Chihuahua | $17,502,077 | $52,532,310 | 2 |
| 2 | N | Quarantine | $14,211,321 | $14,211,321 | 1 |
| 3 | N | Body of Lies | $12,884,416 | $12,884,416 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | Eagle Eye | $10,913,762 | $70,409,979 | 3 |
| 5 | 3 | Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist | $6,420,474 | $20,730,708 | 2 |
| 6 | N | The Express | $4,562,675 | $4,562,675 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Nights in Rodanthe | $4,541,201 | $32,297,101 | 3 |
| 8 | 5 | Appaloosa | $3,321,389 | $10,867,693 | 4 |
| 9 | 20 | The Duchess | $3,304,841 | $5,603,061 | 4 |
| 10 | 8 | Fireproof | $3,140,997 | $16,875,765 | 3 |
Box Office Predictions Recap
Not a very good for me. You would think that I would learn what I already know, people don't want thrillers set in the Middle East, many do not want to see fictional tales set with the backdrop of all too real conflict. That said, there is no way that I would have pegged Beverly Hills Chihuahua to repeat at the top of the pile. Also, I am surprised that City of Ember did not rank higher, although I guess people could be tiring of the fantasy genre when it doesn't have the words Rings or Potter in the title. I'll just chalk this week's guesses up as a bad day of misjudgment, of which there are oh so many.
Here is how the field matched up:
| Actual | Prediction | Title | Wknd Gross | Prediction |
| 3 | 1 | Body of Lies | $12,884,416 | $21 million |
| 1 | 2 | Beverly Hills Chihuahua | $17,502,077 | $16 million |
6 | 3 | The Express | $4,562,675 | $13 million |
| 2 | 4 | Quarantine | $14,211,321 | $11 million |
| 4 | 5 | Eagle Eye | $10,913,762 | $8 million |
| 11 | 6 | City of Ember | $3,129,473 | $6.5 million |
| 5 | 7 | Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist | $6,420,474 | $5.5 million |
| 9 | 8 | The Duchess | $3,304,841 | $4.5 million |
| 7 | 9 | Nights in Rodanthe | $4,541,201 | $4 million |
| 8 | 10 | Appaloosa | $3,321,389 | $3 million |
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