It should really come as no big surprise that the new Vince "No More Christmas films, please" Vaughn comedy "Couples Retreat" landed the top spot at the Columbus Day holiday weekend box office. It was the only film put into wide release by Hollywood studios this weekend, which is odd considering that this is a holiday weekend, and the film was on 3,000 screens. Forget the fact that the film was overwhelmingly panned by critics (a 13% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes is even lower than "Transformers 2"s rating), viewers apparently were in the mood to go and laugh at something...anything...this weekend (or at whatever their TV brainwashed into seeing). For its first three days, "Retreat" hauled in a whopping $35 million, which set a record for a live-action comedy in October (they will make a record for anything these days).The real surprise story of the weekend box office isn't "Couples Retreat", however. It's The Little Studio Acquisition That Could, Paramount's instantly profitable thriller "Paranormal Activity", which expanded to a scant 159 theaters this weekend to land in fifth place by grossing an unreal $7 million. Budgeted at only $11,000 (according to IMDB.com) and picked up by Paramount a couple of years ago after playing the film festival circuit, the film's $44,000 per-screen -or four times its production budget- average was one of the best of the year, the result of an effective Internet campaign over the past few months staged by Paramount. Solid reviews and word-of-mouth from sold out midnight screenings did the rest. Whether the film will be able to sustain this momentum over the next few weeks leading up to Halloween is anyone's guess. With only the remake of "The Stepfather" (um...why?) next chapter in the vile "Saw" series to post any serious competition (exactly what type of 'person' continues to see these cinematic shitpiles?), I have a feeling that it will.
Last week's champ, the horror/comedy "Zombieland", held up quite well in its second lap with $15 million and a cume of nearly $48 million to date. Dropping only 39% (remember, horror films usually dip anywhere from 50-70% in their second weekend), the Sony hit is benefiting from positive word-of-mouth, which may be allowing it to cross over to audiences that might not typically go to the theater to see a horror film of any type. If it continues to hold up, "Zombieland" might see its final gross approach the $90 million range, possibly even near the magical $100 million mark. Sony's other smash it, the 3-D animated "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" hauled in another $12 million to bring its winning streak up to the $96 million mark so far.
In fourth spot was the return of Buzz and Woody as the "Toy Story" 3-D double feature pulled in another $8 million for a ten-day gross of $23 million. Despite being billed as a limited two-week run, don't be surprised if the toys stick around for another weekend or two.
Holdovers dominated spots six through ten for the weekend: the Bruce Willis dud "Surrogates" pulled in another $4.1 million and a cume of $32.5 million. "The Invention Of Lying" pulled in $3.3 million with $12.3 total. "Whip It" whipped $2.8 million to bring its total to $8.8 million. Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" added $2.7 million to its total gross, which is now just a hair over $9 million, and MGM's "Fame" pulled in $2.6 million for a $20 million cume to date.
Next week, the much-anticipated "Where the Wild Things Are" (a movie I am very excited about), the remake of "The Stepfather" and yet another film starring Gerard Butler, "Law Abiding Citizens" all debut.
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