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For better or worse, Fred Claus continues to hold up decently through the holidays, bringing in another $5.5 million, down 48%, for a $59 million total. Paul Giamatti may owe us big time after this and Lady in the Water, but if he really is attached to Don Coscarelli's Bubba Noferatu and the Curse of the She-Vampires, that would go a long way toward making it up to me (no, that's not sarcasm, and if you think it is, go rent Bubba Ho-Tep and get back to me). August Rush had the best hold in the top ten, slipping just 46% to $5 million and a decent $20 million total, proof that there will always be work for Robin Williams, no matter how many bad movies he makes.
The Mist didn't fall too badly in it's second week, dropping 49% to $4.5 million and a $19 million total. With a budget of just $18 million, Frank Darabont's adaptation of a Stephen King novella (do I even have to write that, or can we just assume?) will be profitable, but won't relaunch his directing career or Thomas Jane's leading man status. Bee Movie fell to ninth with $4.4 million, down a steep 62% for a $117 million total (still behind eleventh-place American Gangster in total gross). And in tenth place was No Country for Old Men with $4.3 million, down 43% in spite of adding 135 theatres, and a $22 million total. Those are all good numbers for a Coen Brothers movie, especially with some extra awards season revenue sure to come, but the $4.4k average from just 995 theatres tells me Miramax may have hit the saturation point already.
Two notables opened in limited release. The first is Tamara Jackson's The Savages, which has some good reviews and a credible indie cast including Philip Seymore Hoffman (on a perpetual role and said to be brilliant in Charlie Wilson's War) and Laura Linney. It brought in $151k from four theatres for a $37.9k average. Don't expect big bucks from this, but some critics awards (Linney is perpetually in the running) could push this toward $20 million. The second was Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which has no stars to speak of but already has the best director award from Cannes under it's belt. It managed $75k from three theatres for a $25k average. Unlike most Oscar hopefuls thus far, this one has a feel-good message, at least, that could appeal to the August Rush crowd.
And that about wraps it up for this week. Check back next week when The Golden Compass looks to dominate at the box office, but award contenders Atonement and Grace is Gone get the limited treatment. See you then.