U.S Box Office Report - 5th - 7th September 2008

1. Bangkok Dangerous - $7.8M - $7.8M
2. Tropic Thunder - $7.5M - $96.8M
3. The House Bunny - $5.9M - $37M
4. The Dark Knight - $5.7M - $512.2M
5. Traitor - $4.6M - $17.7M
6. Babylon A.D. - $4M - $17.2M
7. Death Race - $3.6M - $29.8M
8. Disaster Movie - $3.3M - $10.9M
9. Mamma Mia! -  $2.7M - $136.3
10. Pineapple Express - $2.4M - $84.2

A shorter report this weekend than usual as there's really not a great deal to write about. We've got just one new release and it's hardly made a ripple in the water. With summer officially over and August's doldrums out the way, this will be the last weekend of studio dumping. Thank goodness!

Nic Cage returns to our screens once more with Bangkok Dangerous, playing a hitman who begins to question why he's doing the job when he falls for a local women and begins to bond with a kid acting as a errand runner for him. It's a remake of a Pang Brothers film and they handle the directing duties again here. They saw some minor success with The Messengers last year and it's possible that that no-star film will outgross this one. This is the lowest grossing film to reach number one since The Covenant back in September 2006. The film wasn't screened for critics for a good reason and will fall in with other recent Cage flops such as The Wicker Man and Next. It'll manage a few weeks in the charts and be all but a memory come October. Nic Cage has a potential nine films up for release in 2009!

Tropic Thunder gets with spitting distance of $100M, which must be a relief for the studios as it's not been the fast money-maker they'd hoped. It has recouped its production budget this weekend and will being rolling out to foreign territories later this month. An August release turned out to be a smart move for the film as it would have quickly vanished against some of the bigger stronger releases of the summer. Some decent word of mouth (for Anna Farris mainly) has helped The House Bunny make a small dent into the charts. Again, a lack of decent competition in the comedy genre (save for Tropic Thunder) has given the film a bit of breathing space it would otherwise not have received. With four new releases next weekend, expect it to get hit hard, but the film has done what it set out to achieve - score some minor success and recoup it production budget in the process.

The Dark Knight crossed the $500M barrier last weekend and has pretty much run out of records to smash. Titanic is still too far away, though /film are speculating that Warner's might release the film back into Imax theatres in subsequent years (as has happened with The Polar Express) which could push it past the sinking ship epic, though no time soon. The Dark Knight has nothing left to prove and entering its eighth weekend of release the film is still in the top five.

Of the wealth of releases last weekend Traitor seems to be doing about the best in the second frame of release, but given how poorly everything did, it's nothing to write home about. The smart thriller is the top choice for the older cinema going audience and this allowed the film an ok second frame. Like other films, it'll be affected by the four new releases next weekend but should recoup its production budget before leaving the charts.

Babylon A.D collapses pretty spectacularly as it struggles to find anyone interested in seeing it. The $70M film has nowhere to go and has already been written off as a costly flop. Expect foreign grosses to be higher but nothing that could save the film. The same goes for Death Race, though that has seen a slightly higher take over the last couple of weeks and may perform better in the international market. Death Race is also a little closer to recouping its $45M budget. Jason Statham will be seen next in November's Transporter 3.

Mamma Mia! like The Dark Knight, just keeps on giving. It's probably looking at its last weekend in the top ten and should finish its theatrical run with around $145-150M. Internationally the film is still going strong and crossed the $200M line during the past week. Disaster Movie lived up to its name last weekend and things don't recover this one. Unlike similar movies in the series, this one won't see a profit during its theatrical run and will need rely on international grosses and DVD sales to turn a profit.

Pineapple Express hit $80M during the weekend (more than triple its production budget) and might have gone higher were it not for Tropic Thunder. Like Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express has pretty much all major international territories awaiting release.