Throughout the history of horror, the slasher film has never really achieved mainstream popularity. Mostly, they were made in waves due to the demand of a dedicated cult of filmgoers combined with the film’s frequent low costs. The franchises borne of that era, specifically “Friday the 13th,” were hits because of their low overhead, and aside from franchise blockbuster “Freddy Vs. Jason,” the highest grossing film in the series before this weekend was the original, clocking in at just under $40 million.
That’s already been surpassed with the new “Friday the 13th,” which rode a wave of solid promotion and an undemanding recession audience to a projected $42.2 million gross, which should add up to $50 million after the four day Presidents’ Day weekend. Though the dropoff was steep after a nearly $20 million Friday (I guess couples didn’t want to spend Valentine’s Day watching people hacked and slashed to death?), don’t be surprised to see the franchise suddenly have new legs after this becomes by far the most successful of the series. The awful, reductive, embarassingly simplistic series.
“He’s Just Not That Into You” held predictably well at #2 with $19.6 million but the year’s big story remains the spectacular showing by Liam Neeson’s action film “Taken.” After last weekend’s less-than-10% drop in audiences, “Taken” held even better this time around, losing only 6.3% to grab the number three position with $19.2 million, bringing its three week total to $77.9 million and more than likely pushing forward Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” project, which now benefits from having an Oscar-winning international action star as its lead. Hey, remember when after “The Phantom Menace” Liam Neeson said he was retiring? “Confessions Of A Shopaholic” said far more about our nation’s profound spending crisis by opening solidly at #4 with $15.4 million while “Coraline” had strong enough legs to stay in the top five with $15.3 million, a drop of only 9.1%.
Clive Owen’s “The International” suffered from really terrible timing and a leading man that some are going to start considering toxic. It opened at #7 with $10 million, meaning that its likely “Duplicity” is going to need to be a big hit to keep Clive Owen from falling back into supporting roles. “The International” couldn’t even defeat “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” the only film in the top ten to IMPROVE over last weekend’s tally (yeesh), bringing its total to $110.5 million. “Slumdog Millionaire,” meanwhile, fell to #9 but posted the lowest percentage drop in the top ten, and now stands at $86.5 million, poised to break $100 million after it wins its default Best Picture Oscar at the ceremonies next week. And finally, after ten weeks “Gran Torino” exited the top ten, but it still took in $6.7 million, and at $128.9 million, it’s sure to have a shot at $150 million. Matteo Garrone’s Italian crime drama “Gomorrah” took the highest per-theatre-average debut of the year so far. Released on only 5 screens, the IFC release grossed $73,686 for a $14,737 average.
1. Friday The 13th Part Cash- $42.2 million
2. He’s Just Not That Into You- $19.6 million
3. Taken- $19.4 million
4. Confessions Of A Emotionally Troubled Person Who Has Problems Prioritizing And Probably Shouldn’t Be The Subject Of A Feel-Good Jerry Bruckheimer Chick Flick- $15.4 million
5. Coraline- $15.3 million
6. Paul Blart: Robocop- $11.7 million
7. The International- $10 million
8. Steve Martin Plays A Peter Sellers Character As A Retard- $9 million
9. Slumdog Millionaire- $7.1 million
10. Push- $6.9 million
