Weekend Receipts: Chronicle, Woman in Black Make For Potent 1-2 Punch

Two supernatural thrillers joined a pair of spooky holdovers in the top five of this weekend's box office, where one of the world's biggest stars was no match for the low-budget telepathic shenanigans of Team Chronicle. And, er, what happened to Drew Barrymore? Your Weekend Receipts are here.

1. Chronicle
Gross: $22,000,000 (new)
Screens: 2,907 (PSA $7,568)
Weeks: 1

The found-footage phenomenon continues! It's only a matter of time before Martin Scorsese is inspired to legitimize the genre with the story of a boy who lives in a train station and unearths the secret identity of an old toy-seller with the help of obscure archival film thought lost to the ages. Oh, wait.

2. The Woman in Black
Gross: $21,000,000 (new)
Screens: 2,855 (PSA $7,356)
Weeks: 1

"What did they see?" indeed. Daniel Radcliffe's strong post-Harry Potter debut indicated as much about his smart choices as they did about his loyal fan base. I still don't understand how that Allen Ginsberg role is going to work, but at least he's on the board as bankable beyond the Hogwarts bubble.

3. The Grey
Gross: $9,500,000 ($34,756,000)
Screens: 3,208 (PSA $2,961)
Weeks: 2 (Change: -51.7%)

Yikes. For all the credit I gave Neeson last week, it's worth noting that <>The Grey sustained an unusually high week-two drop -- nearly three times higher than Taken in 2009, and well above even last year's Unknown. What gives, America? That's just mean.

4. Big Miracle
Gross: $8,500,000 (new)
Screens: 2,129 (PSA $3,992)
Weeks: 1

Cue the "Who's going to free Drew Barrymore's career from the thickening, encroaching arctic ice?" lines in 3...2... OK, forget it.

5. Underworld: Awakening
Gross: $5,600,000 ($54,353,000)
Screens: 2,636 (PSA $2,124)
Weeks: 3 (Change: -54.7%)

More like Underworld: Sleepening! Seriously, folks, I've got nothing.

[Figures via Box Office Mojo]

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Comments

  • SD says:

    Underworld: Underwhelming more like. amiright?

    I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

  • Shane says:

    I liked The Grey quite a bit, but I also saw that drop coming. It's a lot more existential and bleak than I suspect most moviegoers were expecting, and I figured word of mouth would be toxic.

    Also, I appreciated that the trailers for Chronicle did not give the entire movie away. There are some elements that would have made great trailer material that they kept under wraps, which was a nice surprise.

  • Shane says:

    Also, Andrew from Chronicle sort of looks like Leonardo DiCaprio from Gilbert Grape, doesn't he?