By Ryan Parsons | Image property of 20th Century Fox, Variety
Marley & Me
Though I was unable to make it to Vegas this holiday -- as originally planned -- I pretty much caught every Academy candidate except for Frost/Nixon and The Wrestler. I loved Milk. I loved Doubt. I loved The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I loved Slumdog Millionaire. So many good films, and I somehow have yet to see this weekend's box office winner Marley & Me; which is celebrating its second weekend at the top spot. Wha?
Marley & Me Takes Box Office (Again)
While I never read Marley & Me, I can only assume that any story that covers over the course of a decade and involves a yellow lab has to be sad. Bring in the family drama and I'm not interested. Turns out I may be alone in my opinions, as there were plenty of you seeking holiday depression with this 20th Century Fox adaptation.
Marley & Me took the top spot over the weekend with $24 million. The film has broken past the $100 million mark in only 11 days. The drama, however, wasn't the only film to perform well over this unusually-strong box office weekend.
Picking up the rest of the family, Bedtime Stories remained at the #2 spot with $20.3 million.
Up next was David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which continues exceed expectations with $18.4 million. In its second weekend of release, the film has hauled in a nice sum of $79 million. Even with the film's extended running time, audiences continue to be drawn in by Pitt, Blanchett and the film's fantastical story.
"What's so great is you've got a movie that is so unique that has been embraced by audiences. It's off to a spectacular start and should have a great hold," Paramount vice chair Rob Moore said.
While the word of mouth on Valkyrie remains to be all over the map -- I keep hearing that it is 'solid' -- Bryan Singer's first feature since Superman Returns was able to still rake in another $14 million over the weekend.
All of the top four titles saw minimal declines from their previous week, with the average being close to 30%. Not too shabby!
A Christmas release that hasn't fared so well is Lionsgate's The Spirit, which was only able to round up another $3.3 million at the box office this weekend. After 11 days, Frank Miller's adaptation hasn't even hit the twenty-million mark yet. Well, at least the film did make for one great quote from Roger Ebert.
"To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material."
Add to Heffee!
