Despite a couple of solid debuts and overall strong numbers from the repeat contenders, this week the box office dipped below the total sales for the same frame last year for the first time in over a month. Dwayne “Yeah, I’m still going by The Rock” Johnson led the pack with the family adventure Race To Witch Mountain, whose $25 million take gave Johnson his sixth No. 1 open as a lead actor. (No, really.) The big-name-less horror remake The Last House On The Left also turned in a solid debut performance, landing at No. 3 with $14.66 million. The critically reviled Miss March managed to stumble into the No. 10 spot with $2.35 million, presumably the first and last time the movie will see the top 10.
Most of the weekend’s holdovers saw fairly minimal declines from last week, with the notable exception of last week’s big debut, Watchmen. The much-anticipated and tepidly received graphic novel adaptation took a 67 percent hit in its second week. Watchmen’s $18.07 million take was enough to give it a respectable place at No. 2, though it’s looking less and less likely that it will recoup its estimated $150 million price tag.
Meanwhile, Taken continues to prove itself unexpectedly durable, dropping less than 10 percent to No. 4 with $6.65 million in its seventh week. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail took the second-biggest hit in the top 10, dropping to No. 5 with a still-respectable $5.13 million. Slumdog Millionaire took in another $5.03 million in its 18th week, enough for the No. 6 spot. The middlebrow duo of Paul Blart: Mall Cop and He’s Just Not That Into You were neck-and-neck for the Nos. 7 and 8 spots, with Blart’s $3.1 million just edging out the latter’s $2.9 million. Coraline dropped to No. 9, but its $2.66 million in receipts was only an 18.5 percent decline since last week.
More detailed numbers can be found at boxofficemojo.com.