The "classy" vigilante flick The Brave One shanked the competition on a slow September weekend, taking in a modest $14 million for first place. Despite two years of breathless anticipation leading up to its release, Mr. Woodcock could only manage $9.1 million for third while the Korean monster movie Dragon Wars netted $5.4 for fourth. Though the latter total is paltry for a movie opening on 2,000 screens, we're still depressed that it's already made more domestically than the infinitely superior Korean monster movie from last year, The Host.
The weekend also saw several more artistically ambitious fall releases start their roll-out across the country: The nutso Julie Taymor Beatles music Across The Universe brought in a strong $30,000 per-screen-average on 23 screens, despite wildly mixed notices. David Cronenberg's follow-up to A History Of Violence, the Russian underworld thriller Eastern Promises, performed even better in limited release, with a $37,000 per-screen-average. In The Valley Of Elah, Paul Haggis' sober follow-up to his Oscar-winning Crash, didn't fare quite as well, raking in a respectable but sluggish $16,500 on nine screens.
More detailed numbers available at Box Office Mojo.