Entertainment Today and Beyond

Never Met a Zombi I Didn’t Like…

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE: Chihuahua still has teeth, Quarantine captures audience, little interest in Body of Lies and The Express deserves to be seen!

BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA was TOP dog for the second straight weekend as the film, geared to the kid crowd, scratched and clawed another 17.5 out of ticket sales, giving it a 10 day total of 52.5 mill. I have to laugh as Disney’s been promoting it as the top grossing Chihuahua movie of all time. Guess one can’t argue with that fact. If there’s one thing I hope comes out of the success of this film is the chance that its human star PIPER PERABO gets some high profile roles. I’ve been a fan since I saw her in COYOTE UGLY back in 2000. Despite a negative critical reaction to that film itself, I thought she carried that movie on pure charm alone and was convinced she’d have a very bright future. Many agreed as Coyote Ugly has maintained a strong following since its release back then and has been very popular on DVD. Don’t know if I’ll start a Perabo fan club but I certainly like her!

The horror thriller, QUARANTINE, opened to a solid 14.2 mill in business. The film, starring actress JENNIFER CARPENTER of DEXTER fame, scored solid reviews and filled a need among the teen crowd with the smell of Halloween in the air. It placed second.

Ridley Scott’s, BODY OF LIES, opened to a very disappointing 13.1 mill in ticket-sales, placing third. Despite the star power of Leonardo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe the public just wasn’t in the mood to watch a film about the CIA and terrorism. There’s been so much bad headline news on TV lately that this obviously wasn’t deemed as escapism and was rejected by the movie going public. Its budget has been reported as close to a 100 mill.

EAGLE EYE pulled in 11 mill over the weekend, giving it a total of 70.5 mill in three weeks. NICK AND NORAH”S INFINITE PLAYLIST grossed 6.5 mill for a two week total of 20.8. Sony was hoping this would be a much stronger performer.

Sports drama, THE EXPRESS, failed to find much of an audience in its first weekend in release as the film took in a fairly weak 4.7 mill, placing sixth. I saw it on Saturday night with a grand total of 5 people in the audience and I must say I liked it immensely. The story of ERNIE DAVIS, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, was well worth my time; an absorbing story throughout. Performances by ROB BROWN, DENNIS QUAID and OMAR BENSON MILLER were all top notch. Not only was it a history lesson well worth taking, but this is the type of character driven storytelling that is totally captivating and certainly deserves an audience. Sadly, in this case it didn’t get one. I say GO see it! As sports films go, its top of the line! I give it 4 out of 5.
 
NIGHTS IN RODANTE placed seventh with 4.6 mill, 32.4 in three weeks. APPALOOSA did 3.4 mill to place eight. It’s pulled in 10.9 in four weeks. THE DUCHESS placed ninth with 3.3 mill and CITY OF EMBER, Walden films fantasy movie geared to kids, didn’t register opening in tenth place. It bombed with just 3.2 mill in ticket-sales in its first weekend out, becoming a sizable tax write-off. Here’s Boxofficemojo’s Top 20

October 13, 2008 - Posted by chuckcurry | And Beyond, Reviews | , , , , , | 3 Comments

3 Comments »

  1. I saw Quarantine yesterday…I really liked it. the whole thing was shot almost like a continuous shot by a news cameraman…very Blair Witchy/Cloverfield like. It definitely got intense in a few parts & I really liked it. (I guess as a 37 year olf I can relate to the “teen crowd” as you called it?)

    Comment by robd99 | October 15, 2008

  2. I have the same relation rob!

    Comment by etbcoop | October 15, 2008

  3. Just saw Body of Evidence…a cross between Syriana & The Kingdom. I liked it better than the Kingdom and about as much as Syriana. It’s a long movie, though, I think it was over 2 hrs. I’ll be interested to see how it does leading up to the election.

    Comment by robd99 | October 17, 2008

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