Really? PAUL BLART: MALL COP?

Earlier this year, over the Martin Luther King Day long weekend, PAUL BLART: MALL COP debuted in theatres to a gross of $39.2 million. It went on to remain the most popular film in North America for three straight weeks and finished by pulling in $146 million. You really liked this movie. When I first saw the trailer, I thought, now there was a January dumping ground film if I’ve seen one before. And then you all went to see it. Not only did you see it but you told other people to see, judging from the slim week-to-week declines. Now that Mr. Blart is finally available to rent, I have seen it and I can’t say I share your admiration for mall security humour.

I will give you this. The best thing by far about PAUL BLART: MALL COP is Mr. Blart himself, Kevin James. James nails Blart. This is a pretty sad sack and your heart goes out to him immediately because James plays him with immense respect and sympathy for his position. This guy is in his forties and lives at home with his mother and teenage daughter. His wife left him after she got her green card and he has been working in mall security for ten years because he failed the police academy finals due to some serious hypoglycemia. He goes to work every day and gets no respect from his co-workers or the people he is paid to protect. James just laughs it off but he isn’t fooling anyone. This guy’s seriously unhappy, lonely and has huge confidence issues. James makes the movie but he’s got his work cut out for him with everything else in this movie that makes it ridiculous.


I should have known better. Check director, Steve Carr’s resume … DR. DOLITTLE 2, DADDY DAY CARE and ARE WE DONE YET? Apparently, Carr is the go to guy for low budget, simplistically broad family fare and PAUL BLART: MALL COP is his masterpiece. (I would love to be quoted in some paper calling this movie a masterpiece now.) I think I lost hope in the film when the mall was taken over by a bunch of skate boarding ninja punks looking to steal a bunch of credit card codes so they can fly to the Cayman Islands. That said, it was still a lot more enjoyable than that other mall cop movie, OBSERVE AND REPORT.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Watching the Watchmen

It’s not like I wanted it to fail. It’s not like I knew it wouldn’t succeed. There is a part of me though that is tickled to see that WATCHMEN hasn’t shattered any records upon its highly anticipated release. I am even more amused to see the film’s devout followers defend its sizable but hardly sizzling debut. After all, WATCHMEN is the third highest opening weekend for an R-rated film outside of the summer season. That matters, right?


Realistically speaking, WATCHMEN did do well. It just didn’t do what was expected. Opening in the same frame two years ago, Zack Snyder’s breakthrough film, 300, opened to about $15 million more than WATCHMEN did. Advance buzz seemed just as deafening as it did for 300 and midnight screenings for WATCHMEN doubled the gross of 300’s midnight screenings. Everything seemed on track as reports suggested that most WATCHMEN screenings were sold out all weekend. Yet, it never got to the heights it so clearly felt destined to reach, despite WATCHMEN boasting the widest R-rated release in history. Maybe it was the nearly three-hour run time that set it back. It certainly is a viable theory. The other is that it just didn’t matter that much to anyone outside of the comic-book crowd or, at the very least, as much as Warner banked on.


The rest of the Top 10 held very tightly … well, with the exception of THE JONAS BROTHERS: THE 3D CONCERT EXPERIENCE. After a disappointing debut last week, it plummeted nearly 80%. Maybe there is still time for the brothers to sneak a cameo into the upcoming Hannah Montana movie to redeem themselves. Meanwhile, sleeper hits like TAKEN and PAUL BLART: MALL COP inched up the charts well into their runs. Even CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC managed an upward move and it has already been declared a flop. The 2009 box office continues its record breaking run and this cynical world is watching and wondering when its all going to come to a hault.


No major studio risked opening any wide release opposite WATCHMEN. Platform releases stepped in to take advantage with counterprogramming. The most notable is the three piece homage to Tokyo, aptly named TOKYO! The film opened on just one screen and pulled in a per screen average of over $21K. The Swedish import, EVERLASTING MOMENTS, opened to mild but solid $10K average on five screens. And finally, indie drama, PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND, starring Elle Fanning and Felicity Huffman, opened on a handful of screens but did not report its estimates at press time.

NEXT WEEK: WATCHMEN will race for the top with RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN, starring The Rock, who coincidentally hosted SNL this past weekend. Crazy timing. A young stud tries to get some in MISS MARCH after he fell into a coma before he could lose his virginity. Riveting. And THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT will try to creep out audiences who have been inundated with horror flicks all year now. The little ray of sunshine clearing the way is the potential indie darling, SUNSHINE CLEANING, opening on just four screens.

Source: Box Office Mojo

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: We're Just That Into You

Valentine’s Day doesn’t come until next weekend but there was a lot of love at the box office this weekend. I couldn’t throw specific dates at you but I don’t recall the last time I saw such slight declines across the board in the Top 10. You just know that when a disappointment like THE UNINVITED drops off only 38% in its second week, something isn’t right.


Of course, the most love went to the impressive ensemble comedy, HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU. The film is based on a the popular novel of the same name, which was essentially based on one line of dialogue from the “Sex and the City” television series. All they need to do now is develop the film into a Broadway musical and then develop a film based on that and the cycle will be complete. I suppose there could be a book encapsulating the entire process. Or better still, maybe they could refer to it in the next “Sex and the City” movie. No matter really as the film, which was originally slated for last October, proved to be another hit for Jennifer Aniston, who, after MARLEY & ME, has finally found her box office stride.


The girl power generated from the romantic comedy’s success made its way down to kids too as CORALINE finally found its way to screens. This film was originally slated for release last year and surpassed industry expectations in its new weekend. Not only did the stop-motion animation film, based on the Neil Gaiman children’s book, play well to kids, it also played well to cult audiences who have been waiting for a new Henry Selick film ever since his last, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.


There was a lot more love shown to holdovers than any other new releases. Last week’s champ, TAKEN, found itself, uh, taking in another $20 million, off only 17% from last week. Liam Neeson, the action star – who knew? Maybe they’ll reissue DARKMAN to capitalize on his newfound action hero role. Hmm, probably not. Clint Eastwood couldn’t get any love from the Oscar people but GRAN TORINO continues to pull in solid cash, falling off less than 10% this week for a grand total of over $120 million. Kevin James must be laughing a lot harder than any of us are as I’m sure he never imagined that PAUL BLART: MALL COP would spend a month in the Top 5 and pass the $100 million mark, which it is sure to do by next weekend. And Best Picture favorite, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE continues to pull in droves of people desperate for hope. With only two weeks to go before the Oscar telecast, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE remains the only Best Picture nominee in the Top 10.


All that holding over left little room for THE PINK PANTHER 2 and PUSH to find their own love. The Steve Martin sequel opened about $8 million lower than its predecessor. I’d say that puts an end to this embarrassing series. And PUSH had a hard time getting past its limited run to find the wide X-MEN audience it so clearly was trying to rip off.

NEXT WEEK: Given the current economic climate, I’m not sure this film has the best timing but CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC will make the jump from page to screen. Tom Tykwer goes Hollywood with THE INTERNATIONAL, starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. And given that next Friday is the 13th, what better time could there be to release the FRIDAY THE 13TH remake?

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Mall Cop vs. The Oscars

Alright, yes, PAUL BLART: MALL COP held on to the number one spot this weekend with a very narrow decline. And yes, UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS opened in second place with respectable numbers considering Kate Beckinsale did not return for this third outing. None of this matters though because this past Thursday, the 81st Annual Academy Award nominations were announced and it’s time to check in on the top nominee to see how they fared now that the highest honours have been bestowed upon them.


Two out of the five nominees for Best Picture find themselves in the Top 10. Re-entering in ninth place this weekend is the nominee leader with a whopping 13 nods, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. The film has been playing in wide release now for six weeks but still managed an 8% increase. With a total of $111 million, it is by far the most successful of the five nominees. It may have come in second place in the overall tally but SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the top box office performer this weekend amongst the nominees. The film entered its first wide release frame this weekend and moved up five spots to reach the number five position, a new high in its lengthy 11 week run. The film has nabbed up over $55 million already and judging from the reception and accolades that keep lining up for it, the Danny Boyle success is almost certainly destined to top $100 million.


SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was not the only Oscar hopeful that planned its wide release expansion for this weekend to coincide with expected nominations. Best Picture nominee, FROST/NIXON added a hefty 946 screens to see its take increase over 350% from last weekend. While it may sound impressive, its average was under $3K, which is nothing compared to the averages it was pulling down in limited release. THE WRESTLER only managed to earn two Oscar nods (Springsteen was robbed!) but that didn’t stop it from increasing over 115% after adding 422 screens this last week. REVOLUTIONARY ROAD came up short at the Oscars, earning only three nominations but it had already planned to add 887 screens so what can you do. The film saw its returns increase by 195% and just missed the Top 10 so hopefully that will make up for the Academy not giving the love to Winslet’s disheartening performance. Lastly, THE DARK KNIGHT reentered IMAX theatres this weekend in hopes of capitalizing on its nominations and crossing the $1 billion mark internationally. Sadly, it missed the nominations in all the major categories, save for Heath Ledger’s supporting turn, and Warner Bros. has not released its projected earnings so I can’t even tell you if it lost out there too.


The remaining two nominees for Best Picture did nothing this weekend to take advantage of their recognition. Still, both MILK and THE READER saw their earnings increase by 10% each. MILK is essentially finishing its run while THE READER will expand next weekend.

NEXT WEEK: There will be no box office report as Black Sheep will be on a beach somewhere.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Paul Blart, Box Office King

Ah, January – the only time of year where a movie about an overweight mall cop can pull in over $30 million in its opening weekend and a film about a dog hotel can open, period.

PAUL BLART: MALL COP, the Kevin James vehicle, surpassed all expectations this weekend to debut atop the chart. Of course, that last statement implies that people had expectations to begin with. James even managed to take down Clint Eastwood, pulling in $10 million more than GRAN TORINO did in its second weekend of wide release. Neither actor has anything to complain about, mind you. James has proven in one single weekend that he can open a major film release and Eastwood has proven that the man is still one of the most impressive box office draws in Hollywood, at least when he is front of the camera and flaunting a shotgun.


The rest of the Top 5 continues to impress as four out of the five earned north of $20 million. The Martin Luther King holiday weekend saw a 31% increase over last year and that is only for the three-day regular weekend period. MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D led the pack, charging right off the screen and into third place. The film’s average was slightly less than last week’s horror entry, THE UNBORN but still played solidly. Mind you, THE UNBORN dropped off 50% this weekend so I’m not sure MY BLOODY VALENTINE will still be around come Valentine’s Day. The Top 10 saw one other entry this week, the wide expansion of the Daniel Craig starring, DEFIANCE. The film earned a stable but unimpressive average of just over $5K for an eighth place finish. The awards contender has seen little support and is not expected to be an Oscar surprise.


Pulling in the highest per screen average of any film in release this weekend was NOTORIOUS, the life and death story of the Notorious B.I.G. This was only one of many reasons for the Fox people to celebrate this weekend. Last week’s Golden Globe winner for Best Motion Picture (drama), SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, narrowly surpassed fellow competitor, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, to sneak back into the Top 10 with a resurged five figure average. The film is a lock for a bunch of Oscar nominations so Slumdog’s millions will continue to roll in for weeks to come. Also, Fox Searchlight’s THE WRESTLER, fresh from winning two Golden Globes including Best Actor (drama) for Mickey Rourke, continued its slow expansion with an addition of 84 screens and saw another surge of over 100%.


In other Golden Globe news, Kate Winslet’s double win helped REVOLUTIONARY ROAD continue to expand solidly, increasing 22% over last week. Her Supporting Actress win for THE READER did not fare as well though. The film continues to perform decently but lost 90 screens this week and saw its returns fall off 9%. Awards season still has another month to go so some of the contenders need to pick it up. The Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Language Film , WALTZ WITH BASHIR, fought the film’s controversy to increase 18% over last week. And the Golden Globe winner for Best Motion Picture (comedy), Woody Allen’s VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, tacked on another 50 screens and surged 112% despite its home video release being just a couple of weeks away.


NEXT WEEK: We shall see how this Thursday’s Oscar nominees shape the contender grosses, if at all. This is especially true for REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, THE WRESTLER, FROST/NIXON and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, as all four jump into aggressive expansions in hopes that their film will be receiving many a nod this week. Even THE DARK KNIGHT returns for awards season, reappearing on over 200 screens and ensuring that it will cross the $1 billion mark internationally. As for brand new wide releases, look for Brandon Fraser in INKHEART, which seems awful close in premise to JOURNEY AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH to me, and the latest installment in the now Kate Beckinsale-less franchise, UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS. Or don’t look for them; they don’t sound worth looking for to me.