Although panned by most critics the star studded Valentine’s Day ruled at the box office this holiday weekend raking in over $66 million dollars. Not keeping up with the love theme was Dear John dropping all the way to #5. Percy Jackson was the runner up this weekend followed up by Del Toro in The Wolfman. The currently top grossing movie of all time Avatar dropped to #4.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Feb. 12 – 15

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	Valentine’s Day (Warner Bros.)	3,665	$66,900,000
2.	Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (20th Century Fox)	3,356	$38,800,000
3.	The Wolfman (Universal)	3,222	$36,500,000
4.	Avatar (20th Century Fox)	2,685	$30,000,000
5.	Dear John (Sony)	2,975	$18,800,000
6.	Tooth Fairy (20th Century Fox)	2,748	$7,700,000
7.	From Paris With Love (Lionsgate)	2,722	$6,800,000
8.	Edge of Darkness (Warner Bros.)	2,615	$5,700,000
9.	Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)	1,005	$5,000,000
10.	When In Rome (Disney)	2,125	$4,200,000
in millions of dollars

Variety

According to Friday’s estimates it looks like it! I was beginning to wonder if there was even a point of writing about Box Office results anymore because it seemed that no new film could take down the monster that is Avatar…well until now. According to estimates Dear John beat out Avatar on Friday and looks to be on it’s way to the number 1 for this weekend. Can’t say I’m surprised. Dear John is based on a book by the same author of the Notebook, you know that viral, yet awesomely classic love story that has people still swooning to this day. I haven’t seen Dear John but if it’s anything like the Notebook…  Love does conquer all.

FRIDAY BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE
2/5/09

1.  Dear John (Sony)………. $13.8 mil
2.  Avatar (Fox)………. $6.1 mil
3.  From Paris With Love (Lionsgate)………. $3.0 mil
4.  Edge of Darkness (WB)………. $2.3 mil
5.  When in Rome (Disney)………. $2.0 mil

Variety

Is there even a point of mentioning the box office numbers anymore? It’s been the same for the past six weeks; Avatar number one followed by those other films. The real news will be when another films knocks it from the throne. Until then here are this weekend’s chart. And if you haven’t seen Avatar yet go see it!

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Jan. 22 – 24

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	Avatar (20th Century Fox)	3,141	$36,000,000
2.	Legion (Sony)	2,476	$18,200,000
3.	The Book of Eli (Warner Bros.)	3,111	$17,000,000
4.	Tooth Fairy (20th Century Fox)	3,344	$14,500,000
5.	The Lovely Bones (Paramount)	2,571	$8,800,000
6.	Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.)	2,670	$7,100,000
7.	Extraordinary Measures (CBS Films)	2,549	$7,000,000
8.	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (20th Century Fox)	2,973	$6,500,000
9.	It’s Complicated (Universal)	2,301	$6,200,000
10.	The Spy Next Door (Lionsgate)	2,924	$4,700,000

Variety

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Jan. 22 – 24

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	Avatar (20th Century Fox)	3,141	$36,000,000
2.	Legion (Sony)	2,476	$18,200,000
3.	The Book of Eli (Warner Bros.)	3,111	$17,000,000
4.	Tooth Fairy (20th Century Fox)	3,344	$14,500,000
5.	The Lovely Bones (Paramount)	2,571	$8,800,000
6.	Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.)	2,670	$7,100,000
7.	Extraordinary Measures (CBS Films)	2,549	$7,000,000
8.	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (20th Century Fox)	2,973	$6,500,000
9.	It’s Complicated (Universal)	2,301	$6,200,000
10.	The Spy Next Door (Lionsgate)	2,924	$4,700,000

Although this weekend’s big release Book of Eli staring acting vet Denzel Washington ranked in over $31 million it was no match for the monster that is Avatar. The other new release this weekend, The Lovely Bones starting Mark Walberg and Rachel Weisz come in at #3 with around $17 million.  Golden Globe nominated films The Blind Side and Up In The Air rounded out the top 10 at the box office.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Jan. 15 – 17

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	Avatar (20th Century Fox)	3,285	$41,300,000
2.	The Book of Eli (Warner Bros.)	3,111	$31,615,000
3.	The Lovely Bones (Paramount)	2,563	$17,000,000
4.	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (20th Century Fox)	3,296	$11,500,000
5.	Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.)	3,173	$9,825,000
6.	The Spy Next Door (Lionsgate)	2,924	$9,700,000
7.	It’s Complicated (Universal)	2,673	$7,672,000
8.	Leap Year (Universal)	2,512	$5,828,000
9.	The Blind Side (Warner Bros. )	2,408	$5,565,000
10.	Up in the Air (Paramount)	2,107	$5,460,000
in millions of dollars

James Cameron might have another epic on his hands. The sci-fi flick Avatar rake in $73 million dollars this weekend. Time will tell if it reaches Titanic per-portions.  The Princess and the Frog featuring Disney’s first black princess comes in at #2 with  $12 million. Disney boasts two films in the top ten with A Christmas Carol at #7. Sandra Bullock’s Golden Globe nominated role in The Blind Side is also holding strong at #3 while Did You Hear About the Morgans and Twilight’s New Moon round up the top five.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Dec. 18 – 20

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	Avatar (20th Century Fox)	3,452	$73,000,000
2.	The Princess and the Frog (Disney)	2,070	$12,224,000
3.	The Blind Side (Warner Bros.)	3,407	$10,030,000
4.	Did You Hear About the Morgans? (Sony)	2,718	$7,000,000
5.	New Moon (Summit Entertainment)	3,035	$4,400,000
6.	Invictus (Warner Bros.)	2,125	$4,170,000
7.	Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Disney)	2,070	$3,419,000
8.	Up in the Air (Paramount)	175	$3,100,000
9.	Brothers (Lionsgate)	2,009	$2,630,000
10.	Old Dogs (Disney)	2,630	$2,289,000
in millions of dollars

Variety

Not surprising that New Moon took a huge chunk out of the box office bringing in over $140 million dollars in just three days. Just look at the difference with #2 The Blind Side with over $34 million. Amazing. I think the biggest disappoint of the weekend goes to Sony’s Planet 51. Usually the kids flock to animated films but New Moon probably got their attention this week. Or maybe it didn’t do well was because it wasn’t a Pixar movie. Lastly want to point out #8 Couples Retreat. It came out almost two months ago (October 9) and it’s still in the top 10.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Nov. 20 – 22, 2009

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	New Moon (Summit Entertainment)	4,024	$140,700,000
2.	The Blind Side (Warner Bros.)	3,110	$34,510,000
3.	2012 (Sony)	3,408	$26,500,000
4.	Planet 51 (Sony)	3,035	$12,600,000
5.	Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Disney)	3,578	$12,230,000
6.	Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lionsgate)	629	$11,007,500
7.	The Men Who Stare at Goats (Overture)	2,056	$2,773,000
8.	Couples Retreat (Universal)	1,712	$1,952,000
9.	The Fourth Kind (Universal)	1,648	$1,730,000
10.	Michael Jackson’s This Is It (Sony)	1,640	$1,575,000
in millions of dollars

Variety

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Nov. 13 – 15, 2009

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	2012 (Sony)	3,404	$65,000,000
2.	Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Disney)	3,683	$22,325,000
3.	The Men Who Stare at Goats (Overture)	2,453	$6,200,000
4.	Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lionsgate)	174	$6,090,000
5.	This Is It (Sony)	3,307	$5,100,000
6.	The Fourth Kind (Universal)	2,530	$4,744,000
7.	Couples Retreat (Universal)	2,509	$4,253,000
8.	Paranormal Activity (Paramount )	2,712	$4,200,000
9.	Law Abiding Citizen (Overture)	2,071	$3,932,000
10.	The Box (Warner Bros.)	2,635	$3,185,000
in millions of dollars

Variety

Paranormal Activity was numero uno it’s second week in the box office bringing in over $22 million dollars. Surprisingly it’s scare competitor Saw VI brought in much less at around $14 million in it’s premiere weekend. Although I have been one of the minorities to opt out of the Saw franchise (seeing people torture others is not my opinion of fun or scary) I have seen Paranormal Activity both the original 2007 and 2009 versions. I am always happy when indie films get wide audience popularity, but the movie just wasn’t good. 2008’s Quarantine proved that unlike others before, (and in this case after) the first person point of view angle can work if it’s done right. Unfortunately, it  had what Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project lacked; fast pacing.  ‘Paranormal‘ is one of those movies that view well in a movie setting because movie goers can feed off each others vibes. Outside of that, the movie ends up being boring, even the much hyped endings.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Oct. 23 – 25, 2009

Title Engagements Estimated Weekend Box Office 1. Paranormal Activity (Paramount ) 1,945 $22,000,000 2. Saw VI (Lionsgate) 3,036 $14,800,000 3. Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros.) 3,735 $14,420,000 4. Law Abiding Citizen (Overture Films) 2,890 $12,713,000 5. Couples Retreat (Universal) 3,074 $11,097,000 6. Astro Boy (Summit Entertainment) 3,014 $7,017,000 7. The Stepfather (Sony) 2,734 $6,500,000 8. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (Universal) 2,754 $6,347,970 9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony) 2,741 $5,600,000 10. Zombieland (Sony) 2,447 $4,300,000 in millions of dollars

Full list available Monday afternoon at www.variety.com/boxoffice

Variety

The indie, Paranormal Activity, gained speed with an internet movement to open in more theaters nationwide and pull in a outstanding 20 million dollars. Although not as good as the much anticipated Where the Wild Things Are, it still is astonshing when playing in two thousand theaters less than it’s competitors. ‘Wild Things’ opened in almost 4,000 theaters this weekend to the tune of 32 million, with what has to be one of the largest theatrical releases of recent. Last week opener Couples Retreat took a hard hit placing at #4.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Oct. 16 – 18, 2009

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros.)	3,735	$32,500,000
2.	Law Abiding Citizen (Overture Films)	2,890	$21,300,000
3.	Paranormal Activity (Paramount)	760	$20,200,000
4.	Couples Retreat (Universal)	3,009	$17,900,000
5.	The Stepfather (Sony)	2,734	$12,300,000
6.	Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Sony)	3,037	$8,100,000
7.	Zombieland (Sony)	3,171	$7,800,000
8.	Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (3D) (Disney)	1,467	$3,000,000
9.	Surrogates (Disney)	2,326	$1,900,000
10.	The Invention of Lying (Warner Bros.)	1,624	$1,900,000
in millions of dollars

Variety

No surprise that Zombieland and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs topped the this weekend box office but  Toy Story 1 & 2 double feature at #3 shows how well Toy Story 3 will do next year.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

Oct. 2 – 4, 2009

Title	Engagements		Estimated Weekend Box Office
1.	Zombieland (Sony)	3,036	$25,000,000
2.	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony)	2,977	$16,700,000
3.	Toy Story / Toy Story 2 in 3D (Disney)	1,745	$12,500,000
4.	The Invention of Lying (Warner Bros.)	1,707	$7,400,000
5.	Surrogates (Disney)	2,951	$7,300,000
6.	Whip It (Fox Searchlight)	1,720	$4,850,000
7.	Capitalism: A Love Story (Overture)	962	$4,850,000
8.	Fame (MGM)	3,133	$4,800,000
9.	The Informant! (Warner Bros)	2,425	$3,800,000
10.	Pandorum (Overture)	2,506	$1,900,000
in millions of dollars

Variety