Box Office: "Shutter Island" Holds Off Competition

Box Office

"Shutter Island" Holds Off Competition; "Avatar" Total Growing Increasingly Ridiculous

By our guest blogger, Tim Strain

Martin Scorsese's newest held its own at the box office, claiming the number one spot in its second weekend in spite of two wide openers.  It grossed $22 million. Playing in 3,003 theaters, a dozen more than last weekend, the film dropped 46 percent. That is a very good figure for a horror film, but not especially good for a Scorsese film. The $80 million production now stands north of $75 million, and still has a chance to break "The Departed's" $132 mark as the biggest Scorsese hit ever.

The weekend's openers both exceeded expectations, probably causing a lot of people in Hollywood to scratch their heads. More stumped than anyone else has to be Kevin Smith, whose "Cop Out" is officially the biggest commercial hit of his career, grossing $18 million in 3,150 theaters. After 15 years of ground-breaking independent work, "Cop Out" is the first he has worked with someone else's script, and the Warner Brothers' execs allegedly had their fingers in the creative process throughout every phase of production. Nevertheless, audiences lined up to see Tracy Morgan spit out Obama jokes and Bruce Willis shake his head, surely thinking he is too old for this shtick at this point. The Timothy Olyphant-led "The Crazies" opened to the tune of $16 million in 2,476 theaters and better reviews (71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) than "Shutter Island" (66 percent).

Somehow, "Avatar" refuses to quit, easing just 14 percent for $14 million in its 12th weekend, despite losing 125 theaters from last weekend. It has made an (insert adjective) $707 million domestically, and will hit the $2.5 billion worldwide mark at some point this week.

"The Wolfman" has to be considered the biggest bust of the young year. It dropped another wince-inducing 58 percent in its third weekend, and has made only $57 million against its $150 million budget. "Percy Jackson" and "Valentine's Day," both of which saw big drops last weekend alongside "The Wolfman," only dropped 36 percent and 43 percent, respectively. "Percy" brought in $10 million this weekend and has made $71 million, and still has a chance to break its $95 million budget. After its monstrous opening, "Valentine's Day" is definitely a commercial success, and it passed $100 million this weekend with its $9.5 million haul.

Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer" successfully expanded to 43 theaters, 39 more than last weekend. It's $870,000 take gave it the best per theater average (a smidge over $20,000) of the frame. The French Best Foreign Language Film entry "A Prophet" debuted with an admirable $170,000 in nine theaters, giving it a $19,000 per theater average.