It was another dreadful couple of days at the box office, as moviegoers -- faced with bleak options like Surrogates, Pandorum and Fame -- chose to instead spend their weekends doing more productive things like cleaning out their garages, or enrolling in online correspondence beauty schools. (Or in our case, both!) Let's peek through our fingers at the damage, shall we?
1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Gross: $24,600,000 (cume: $60,036,000)
Screens: 3,119 (PSA: $7,887)
Weeks: 2 (Change: -18.8%)
The only ray of sunshine came courtesy of the big Chef Boyardee in the Sky, as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs tumbled a meager 18.8% to bring in just under $25 million. Exit polling suggested audiences enjoyed the "3-D experience" of the family film, as well how ushers offered them "a fine dusting of freshly ground pepper and grated parmesan" on their popcorn or nachos. Nice out-of-the-box touch, Sony!
2. Surrogates
Gross: $15,000,000 (new)
Screens: 2,951 (PSA: $5,083)
Weeks: 1
I was totally going to luxuriate on my couch and send my robot clone to see this for me, until I remembered the technology isn't there yet.
3. Fame
Gross: $10,033,000 (new)
Screens: 3,096 (PSA: $3,241)
Weeks: 1
MGM's first release since Pink Panther 2 isn't exactly going to save the cash-poor and underperforming studio; we're worried for Leo the Lion, who might soon find himself pulling off a tight T-shirt for a pervy "director" who lures the out-of-work mascot to his six-floor walk-up for a videotaped "audition."
4. The Informant!
Gross: $6,915,000 (cume: $20,992,000)
Screens: 2,505 (PSA: $2,760)
Weeks: 2 (Change: -33.9%)
The last-minute addition of exclamation marks are the new "numerals as words" in movie titles. Just watch: ads for James Cameron's Avatar! are going to blanket your city in the coming months. It just reads "fun," and fun = $$$. (!)
5. Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself
Gross: $4,750,000 (cume: $44,543,000)
Screens: 2,120 (PSA: $2,241)
Weeks: 2 (Change: -51.9%)
Can we whine about poor grammar for a moment? It's badly. Badly. Sheesh.
6. Pandorum
Gross: $4,408,000 (new)
Screens: 2,506 (PSA: $1,759 )
Weeks: 1
After Sorority Row and Jennifer's Body, this makes the third low-budget horror film in a row to tank at the box office -- proving that 1) the genre isn't bulletproof; 2) unfortunately, neither is this movie.
23. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
Gross: $369,000
Screens: 120 (PSA: $3,075)
Weeks: 1
Tucker Max's Hangover-for-woman haters performed respectably on 120 screens, but it remains to be seen how his climactic shitstorm plays out in wide release.
-- Capitalism: A Love Story
Gross: $240,000
Screens: 4 (PSA: $60,000)
Weeks: 1
Yes, that reads $60,000 per screen. To paraphrase Woody Allen -- hey, Michael. Don't knock capitalism. It's sex with someone you love.
[Data: BoxOfficeMojo.com]