Box Office Update 5/15-5/17: Angels & Demons Takes the Top Spot

Last weekend, Star Trek dominated the box office, buoyed by strong reviews and positive word of mouth it took the top easily. The question as we headed into this weekend, the question was asked whether or not it could have the strength to rise once again to the top. The film standing in its way? Angels & Demons. It seemed to be an almost foregone conclusion that Trek would dip. Then there was the weekend itself. The drama built up through the weekend as Trek was seen to perform stronger than expected, going so far as to win the Sunday, believe it or not.

In the end Star Trek did not quite have the juice to pull off the upset, although the difference between it and Angels & Demons was much smaller than I was expecting. I am quite happy to see it doing well, not to mention it is knocking on Wolverine's doorstep with its overall take so far.

As you could probably guess, Angels & Demons took the top spot, coming in under expectations but still respectable. I have to wonder if The DaVinci Code left a bad taste so as to sour the reception here? Neither one is a terribly good film, but I must say that this new film is a step in the right direction. I have a sneaking suspicion this movie will crumble in the face of the oncoming summer onslaught.

Overall, the weekend was quite strong. Most of the returning films showed good holds from last week. The closer we get to the end of the school year, the better the box office begins to look and the happier the studios get.

One of the biggest stories this week for me, is the fact that in the same amount of time, Disneynature's debut documentary has made more at the box office than the highly touted drama The Soloist. Sure, the numbers are pretty close, less than $2 million between them, but it is still a pretty interesting note. What does it mean? Probably nothing, it just struck me as something notable by reason of being.

The next couple of week's will be bringing such highly touted films as Terminator: Salvation, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Up, Drag Me to Hell, and Land of Lost that will all but dominate the box office charts. So, say good bye to the drama or most serious films of any manner until the Fall rolls around.

One movie dropped off the top ten this week: Hannah Montana: The Movie (11).

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	N	Angels & Demons	$46,204,168	$46,204,168	1
2	1	Star Trek	$43,034,547	$147,645,384	2
3	2	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$14,702,425	$150,993,169	3
4	3	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	$6,653,384	$39,855,222	3
5	4	Obsessed	$4,588,973	$62,610,148	4
6	5	17 Again	$3,368,189	$58,363,111	5
7	8	Monsters vs. Aliens	$3,182,085	$190,733,766	8
8	7	The Soloist	$2,402,801	$27,505,154	4
9	6	Next Day Air	$2,244,878	$7,613,221	2
10	9	earth	$1,697,956	$29,088,771	4

Box Office Predictions Recap
Mark your calendars, boys and girls. You are not likely to find a better week of predictions out of little old me. Some how, some way, I was on point when I penned these predictions. I was able to got the top ten in the correct order, but the fun does not stop there. On the predictions side of the board, I was almost equally good. My worst guesses were the weekend's top two films, and while they be my worst, they were still pretty close. Next week? Well, let's not think about that just yet.

Here is how the field matched up:

Actual	Prediction	Title	Wknd Gross	Prediction
1	1	Angels & Demons	$46,204,168	$53 million
2	2	Star Trek	$43,034,547	$38 million
3	3	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	$14,702,425	$15 million
4	4	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	$6,653,384	$7 million
5	5	Obsessed	$4,588,973	$4 million
6	6	17 Again	$3,368,189	$3.25 million
7	7	Monsters vs. Aliens	$3,182,085	$3 million
8	8	The Soloist	$2,402,801	$2.5 million
9	9	Next Day Air	$2,244,878	$2 million
10	10	earth	$1,697,956	$1.5 million