U.S Box Office Report - 26th - 28th September 2008

1. Eagle Eye - $29.2M - $29.2M
2. Nights in Rodanthe - $13.5M - $13.5
3. Lakeview Terrace - $7.0M - $25.7M
4. Fireproof - $6.5M - $6.5M
5. Burn After Reading - $6.1M - $45.5M
6. Igor - $5.5M - $14.3M
7. Righteous Kill - $3.8M - $34.8M
8. My Best Friend's Girl - $3.8M - $14.5M
9. Miracle at St. Anna - $3.5M - $3.5M
10. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys - $3.1M - $32.7M

Friday's takes were slightly lower than expected due to the live presidential debate (Estimated audience - 30 million) but recovered on Saturday. Hi-tech thriller Eagle Eye is our number one movie this weekend. The much hyped (in recent weeks) film is yet another number one opener for Shia LaBeouf who teams up with his Disturbia directer D.J Caruso, and stars along side Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson. LaBeouf plays a guy who returns home one evening to a house full of chemical weapons and a phone call telling him the FBI are about to enter his house in 30 seconds. Miles away Monaghan is receiving similar treatment.


The film, from an idea by Steven Spielberg, is a cross between Enemy of the State and a whole slew of Hitchcock movies and opened with stronger box office than we've seen in recent weeks. It also opens higher than Disturbia did back in April 2007. There's a wealth of new releases next weekend but nothing that should trouble Eagle Eye from the top spot. Disturbia had three weekends at number one and finished up with around $80M, a figure that Eagle Eye stands every chance of emulating, if not eclipsing all together.

NIghts in Rodanthe is based on Nicholas Sparks' book of the same name (Sparks was also responsible for The Notebook) and opens strong in second place. Starring Diana Lane and Richard Gere, the film brought out the female demographic in droves (who it has to be said, have been ill-served by the recent releases save for the dire The Women). Gere can perform this kind of role in his sleep and Lane has seen some success with the romantic genre in Must Love Dogs and Under The Tuscan Sun. The pair of them starred together in the 2002 flick Unfaithful, so we're on somewhat familiar ground. This time around Lane stars as an unhappy house wife staying at a hotel, Gere plays a doctor who just happens to need a place to stay, while travelling to see his son. Rodanthe should manage some decent weekday totals as people choose it as a girl's night out or a date movie (both of which have probably boosted sales this weekend). The film marks the second biggest opening ever for a Richard Gere movie (Runaway Bride did $35M) while it's Diana Lane's third biggest opener after Jumper and The Perfect Storm (though both roles, it could be argued, were not leading ones).

The number one movie last weekend, Lakeview Terrace, takes a tumble in the second frame, dropping a nasty 61% from last Friday. To be expected really, there was pratically nothing of any consequence released last weekend so it became the number one choice by default. This week, with at least two big releases, one of which is in direct competition, the film crumbled under the weight and will now begin to drop quickly down the charts. Lakeview was something of a one week wonder, but given that it recouped its production budget on Friday, no one is too worried.

Fireproof. Didn't even see it on the trailer links last weekend? Me either, yet there it is in the top half of the charts. I had to look the film up on IMDb - The plot is about a firefighter whose marriage is on the slide. When he talks of divorce his parents tell him to give the relationship one final chance by way of The Love Dare - allowing him to love his wife while avoiding God's love for him (?). The film is being hyped heavily onto the Christian market, with church groups being specifically targeted (and possibly offered screenings) and that's helped push the film into the top ten when otherwise it would have barely made a ripple. It won't hang around too long but it's already done far more business than anyone could have thought possible, and that total from just 839 locations isn't anything to be scoffed at.

Burn After Reading went into profit during this last week. The star studded Coen Brothers film is about to see release onto some major international markets where it should easily outgross its domestic total. Burn After Reading won't be the Coen's most successful film, that title is still held by No Country For Old Men, but should still be a sizeable hit. Next up for the Coen Brothers is A Serious Man, a film cast with relative unknowns.

Of last weekend's new releases, the under performing Igor fairs about the best in week-week drops, but given its relatively low start, it's not much of an achievement. It helped that the film was the only family friendly one in the top ten but it's no Pixar movie and is simply holding in place thanks to the under five market. It'll face competition next weekend from the wide-opening (3000 locations!) Beverly Hills Chihuahua. (I wish I was making it up). Righteous Kill, facing direct competition from Lakeview Terrace and Eagle Eye is just about hanging on. The $60M De Niro/Pacino movie has so far recouped just over half of that total. Meanwhile My Best Friend's Girl collapsed by 60% on Friday and is probably already looking at its last weekend in the top ten. Back to the stand up circuit for Dane Cook.

Spike Lee's war drama Miracle at St Anna hasn't impressed fans or critc's. The recent in-press sparring with Clint Eastwood might not have helped the situation either and Miracle will see just one weekend in the top ten. The film is about the true life story of the all black 92nd Infantry Division who end up trapped in a Tuscan village following the rescue of an Italian child. Rounding us out is the latest Tyler Perry movie, which did exactly what the last one did, and the one before that...a big opening weekend followed by a complete collapse in subsequent weekends.

In a limited release the Chuck Palahniuk adaptation Choke made $1.3M from 435 locations.