High School Musical 3 does $15M for second weekend at No 1, Changeling, Saw suffer
By Keith Williams
HOLLYWOOD,CA(RushPRnews/Hollywood Today)11/3/08 — And so it came to pass that Zack and his army of tweens went into battle up against psychopaths, child abductors, pornographers and spooked-out young ladies over the Halloween weekend, with the victor’s crown going for a second week running to High School Musical 3. Singing and dancing its way to the tune of an estimated $15 million, it overtook Angelina protesting at 1850 asylums for an acceptable $9.4 million with the period drama Changeling, leaving Zack and Miri Make a Porno to go limp with a less than titillating $10.6 million in 2735 peepshows.
Scared off on Friday by Saw V’s holiest of days, HSM3 made a stunning comeback to retake the weekend, beating that sawful entry by $5 million. Like a blazing meteor, the modern-day Mickey & Judy let’s-put-on-a-show-and-save-the-old-gym candy-flosser shot into theatres, and shot back out just as rapidly with an alarming 64% decline, though leaving a trail of dollars for Disney still big enough to out-run its contenders. Unlike Mamma Mia!, repeat viewing doesn’t seem to be on the agenda, suggesting tweens are either as recession-minded as their elders or saving their pocket-money for the DVD which can’t be too far down the delivery line.
Changeling, the latest directorial offering from Clint Eastwood, who seems determined to rival Woody Allen for pumping out product in their senior years, opened at no 4 to mixed reviews, its future box-office determining whether mighty-hearted star Angelina Jolie enjoys another Oscar nomination or not. Right now it could go one way or the other, depending how audiences react to a dark, grown-up drama like this, but with so many films vying for attention each week, its chances would have to be regarded as slim at best. If you’re not instant, baby, you’re out, which sadly appears to be the box-office mantra of the day.
Whether it was the provocative title, the pedigree of its director still tainted after the Jersey Girl debacle, or just plain embarrassment on the part of the audience, the critically well-received Zack and Miri certainly didn’t do as well as pundits predicted, despite opening at no 2. On rental this should fare much better, if only for the curiosity factor, but in theatres, and legit ones at that, subject matter proved too inflamed for most puritans. Molly Hartley suffered even less well, her haunting managing to exorcise a feeble $6 million at 2652 private schools. Reminiscent of just about everything any true horror/ghost fan has already seen a zillion times before, it seemingly popped up out of nowhere like a half-hearted Boo, but seems doomed to return to the darkness even more quickly than High School Musical 3.
Amongst hold-overs, Chihuahuas kept barking with $4.7 million from a 31% drop, Bees kept a-buzzing with another $4 million dollar’s worth of honey on a 34% drop, and Max Payne kept CGI-ing along with $3.7 million from a 53% fall in business. Eagle Eye, now up to $92 million downloaded $3.4 million whilst falling 33%, leaving Pride & Glory poised on the borders of the top ten, about to say farewell with $3.2 million from a 48% drop. Of W and RockNRolla, search parties have yet to return.
Weekend Estimates courtesy leesmovieinfo.net
