Doubling up
National Treasure: Book of Secrets smartly went with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach, sticking with its established kid-friendly brand of action moviemaking on its way to a $45 million opening weekend and the top spot at the box office. That figure is $10 million more than what the 2004 original brought in, and that film went on to make $173 million domestically.
The up side
Somehow, someway, Alvin and the Chipmunks keeps wracking up the big bucks. The rodents brought in another $27.9 million to bring its two-week total to just over $83 million. That’s already $23 million more than its budget, so it’s a safe bet we’ll be seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: Dave Strikes Back.
Bomb Squad
With all the high-profile releases last Friday, someone had to get left on the bench. That someone appears to be Dewey Cox. Walk Hard, the Walk the Line spoof starring John C. Reilly, earned a paltry $4 million and now has its work cut out for it to earn back even its modest $35 million budget.
Swami Sez
An exotic wager comes through
Prediction: National Treasure: Book of Secrets is an easy No. 1 with $51 million.
Result: Easy, yes, and just $6 mil. off on the total.
Prediction: Charlie Wilson’s War tops Sweeney Todd overall, but Sweeney Todd will score a better per-screen average.
Result: Check and check
A long, long weekend
When movies come out midweek, like this week, it makes for tough predictin’. To make things easier, let’s just guess what the movies will make for the entire week.
Prediction: National Treasure retains the box office title with another $45 million.
The best of the newbies
Of the new releases, Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem performed the strongest on Christmas Day, bringing in $9.5 million. So what kind of pace does that set for the rest of the week?
Prediction: Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem finishes the highest of the Christmas Day releases with $36 million.
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