Spotlight: I Am Legend (2007)

Warner's big budget re-remake I Am Legend surprised no one when it debuted with $77.2 million, the biggest December weekend of all-time, especially considering the largely uneventful Holiday season it was released in. Giving star Will Smith the biggest opening of his already highly successful career, the film crushed his previous best, 2004's I, Robot with $52.1m.

The film has since amassed $251.6 million domestically and an incredible $541.6 million worldwide, making it the third highest grossing film of Smith's career. Only 1996's Independence Day with $816 million and 1997's Men in Black with $589 have grossed more globally. It was the sixth highest grossing release of 2007, behind Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix's $292 million, and ahead of The Bourne Ultimatum's $227m.

Budget: $150m (unconfirmed)
Opening weekend: $77.2m
Domestic Gross: $251.6m
International Gross: $290m

source(s): boxofficemojo.com, einsiders.com

'Spartans' knocks off 'Clover' and John Rambo for No. 1, Jan. 25-27

In a drag-out battle between a gigantic monster, comedic Spartans and the return of John Rambo, it was the barely clad warriors of Meet the Spartans who finished the weekend victorious, opening with an estimated $18.7 million. Launching in 2,605 theaters, the Fox spoof comedy averaged a top ten best $7,188 in its debut weekend.

The PG-13 debut was virtually on par with the studio's previous genre spoof comedies Epic Movie ($18.6m) and Date Movie ($19.1m). It was also close to Fox's Scary Movie 2 with $20.5 million, which marked the smallest debut in the Scary Movie franchise. Spoofing blockbuster films from the past year, the $18 million budgeted production should finish with a profitable $40-50 million domestically.

With the Academy Award nominations being announced this past week most of the Best Picture nominees experienced sales increases. The two biggest were No Country for Old Men with a 106% increase and Michael Clayton with a whopping 4,500% increase thanks to the expansion into over 1,000 theaters.

Sylvester Stallone dusted off the old bow and machete, re-awakening John Rambo from a nearly 20 year hiatus. The fourth film in the series, Rambo finished a strong second with $18.2 million, averaging an impressive $6,598 in 2,751 theaters. Co-produced by Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company, the ultra-gory actioner depended heavily on a large male turnout, and marks Stallone's biggest debut in a starring role since 1985's Rocky IV took in $19.9 million. The original Rambo film First Blood debuted with $6.6 million back in 1982. Its successor Rambo: First Blood Part II became the biggest film in the franchise, debuting with $20.1 million in 1985 on its way to $150.4 million total. It is still the highest grossing film of Stallone's career.

Katherine Heigl's romantic comedy 27 Dresses slipped just 41% in its sophomore frame, grossing an estimated $13.6 million. In ten days, the $30 million budgeted Fox release has grossed $45.3 million, and should finish with a very profitable $80 million domestically.

The biggest loser of the weekend was last week's champ Cloverfield, which fell a stunning 68% to an estimated $12.7 million in fourth. Budgeted at a modest $25 million, the popular monster pic has still managed a very impressive $64.3 million in ten days, and could also finish with $80 million domestically.

Diane Lane's thriller Untraceable debuted in fifth with $11.2 million, averaging a decent $4,730 in 2,368 theaters. Budgeted at $30 million, the Sony ScreenGems release most likely won't break even domestically.

Several films broke through major milestones this weekend, led by Academy Award nominated Juno surpassing $100 million, thanks in large part to its two nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress. Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks and Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets both surpassed $200 million over the weekend.

Debuting out of the top ten was Paramount Vantage's How She Move, which took in just $4.1 million in twelfth place.

No Country for Old Men saw a 106% boost in ticket sales to $2.5 million, pushing its 12-week total to $52 million. Michael Clayton vaulted back into theaters with a theater increase of 1,069, bringing in $2 million this weekend. The George Clooney starrer (also up for two Oscars for Best Film and Best Actor) has grossed $41.4 million in 17 weeks.

Thanks to four newcomers and impressive Oscar-nominated holdovers, the box office was up an incredible 33% from last year's comparable frame, when Epic Movie took the top spot with $18.6 million. With the Superbowl coming next Sunday, look for a very light weekend to come.

The numbers, Jan. 25-27, 2008

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Meet the Spartans	$18,725,000	2,605	$7,188	$18,725,000	--	1	Fox
2	Rambo	$18,150,000	2,751	$6,598	$18,150,000	--	1	Lionsgate
3	27 Dresses	$13,600,000	3,074	$4,424	$45,347,000	-40.9	2	Fox
4	Cloverfield	$12,700,000	3,411	$3,723	$64,294,000	-68.3	2	Paramount
5	Untraceable	$11,200,000	2,368	$4,730	$11,200,000	--	1	Sony
6	Juno	$10,300,000	2,426	$4,246	$100,162,000	3.5	8	Fox Searchlight
7	The Bucket List	$10,210,000	2,915	$3,503	$57,684,000	-27.5	5	Warner Bros.
8	There Will Be Blood	$4,887,000	885	$5,522	$14,764,000	66.1	5	Par. Vantage
9	National Treasure 2	$4,664,000	2,154	$2,165	$205,421,000	-38.2	6	Buena Vista
10	Mad Money	$4,610,000	2,470	$1,866	$15,284,000	-40.4	2	Overture

The numbers, Jan. 18-21, 2008

Final numbers for the full four-day MLK weekend.

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Cloverfield	$46,146,546	3,411	$13,529	$46,146,546	--	1	Paramount
2	27 Dresses	$27,442,040	3,057	$8,977	$27,442,040	--	1	Fox
3	The Bucket List	$16,664,347	2,915	$5,717	$44,223,780	-14.1	4	Warner Bros.
4	Juno	$11,966,082	2,534	$4,722	$87,092,615	-12.1	7	Fox Searchlight
5	National Treasure 2	$9,606,326	2,963	$3,242	$199,489,171	-15.0	5	Buena Vista
6	First Sunday	$9,504,908	2,213	$4,295	$30,170,510	-46.3	2	Sony
7	Alvin and the Chipmunks	$9,433,049	2,962	$3,185	$198,813,230	1.4	6	Fox
8	Mad Money	$9,273,645	2,470	$3,755	$9,273,645	--	1	Overture
9	I Am Legend	$5,905,443	2,525	$2,339	$248,482,867	-27.8	6	Warner Bros.
10	Atonement	$5,528,377	1,291	$4,282	$32,653,183	30.9	7	Focus

Oscar nominations announced!

Oscar nominations came in this morning, and there really weren't any big surprises there. I'm glad to see the underlooked 'Michael Clayton' getting a nod for Best pic and Best Actor, both very well deserved. Congratulations to Cate Blanchett as well for two nominations for Best Actress ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age") and Best Supporting Actress ("I'm Not There"). Look for box office bumps for "Atonement," "Juno" and "There Will Be Blood."

I'm also happy to report that two of the films I worked on last year, "Ratatouille" and "The Golden Compass" landed a few noms, including Best Animated Feature for 'Rat' and Best Visual Effects for 'Golden Compass'.

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Complete List of Nominees for the 80th Annual Academy Awards

BEST PICTURE
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"
Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Hal Holbrook, "Into The Wild"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Brad Bird, Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird, "Ratatouille"
Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Sarah Polley, "Away From Her"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Beaufort" (Israel)
"The Counterfeiters" (Austria)
"Katyn" (Poland)
"Mongol" (Kazakhstan)
"12" (Russia)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"Surf's Up"

BEST ART DIRECTION
"American Gangster"
"Atonement"
"The Golden Compass"
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
"There Will Be Blood"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" Roger Deakins
"Atonement," Seamus Mcgarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Janusz Kaminski
"No Country For Old Men," Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood," Robert Elswit

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Across the Universe," Albert Wolsky
"Atonement," Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age," Alexandra Byrne "Lust, Caution," Pan Lai "La Vie En Rose," Marit Allen "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street," Colleen Atwood

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"No End in Sight"
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
"Sicko"
"Taxi to the Dark Side"
"War/Dance"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"Freeheld"
"La Corona" ("The Crown")
"Ochberg's Orphans"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"

BEST FILM EDITING
"The Bourne Ultimatum," Christopher Rouse
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild," Jay Cassidy
"No Country for Old Men," Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood," Dylan Tichenor

BEST MAKEUP
"La Vie en Rose"
"Norbit"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"Atonement", Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner", Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton", James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille", Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma", Marco Beltrami

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Falling Slowly" from "Once"
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted"
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush"
"So Close" from "Enchanted"
"Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" from "Hairspray"
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)"
"Peter & the Wolf"

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"At Night"
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)"
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"No Country For Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Transformers"

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"No Country For Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"3:10 to Yuma"
"Transformers"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Golden Compass"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
"Transformers"

A monster and a bridesmaid dominate MLK weekend

A monster and a bridesmaid helped the box office post its biggest Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend ever, as the top ten films put up over $129 million over the Friday-Sunday frame of the four-day holiday weekend (estimates for that coming Monday).

Leading the charge was Paramount's mega-hyped monster flick Cloverfield, which took in a massive $41 million in its debut weekend. Produced by J.J. Abrams and directed by Matt Reeves, the $25 million budgeted picture detroyed both the MLK holiday record set by 2002's Black Hawk Down with $28.6 million, as well as the January opening weekend record set by 1997's re-release of Star Wars with $35.9 million.

Normally January is a very quiet month at the box office. Studios dump films they couldn't fit into any of the more lucrative time frames of the year, and audiences are usually burnt out from the long holiday season. But thanks to a saavy show-nothing ad campaign (launched with a cryptic preview at the head 'Transformers' last summer) that generated phenomenal internet buzz, anticipation from the film's core under 25 demographic was immense. A cross between The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla, critics were quite supportive of the high-concept project, with critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com giving the film a 76% recommendation rating.

Running at a svelt 84 minutes, Cloverfield pulled in $16.9 million on Friday (including late Thursday night screenings), falling a hefty 19% on Saturday. With two high profile NFL Conference Championship games playing on Sunday, Paramount estimated another 25% drop in sales on Sunday, which still seems too conservative.

In a nice counterprogramming move to Cloverfield and NFL football coverage, Fox's romantic comedy 27 Dresses finished a strong second with $22.4 million. Starring Katherine Heigl, the PG-13 film averaged an impressive $7,336 in 3,057 theaters. The debut was below Heigl's hugely popular comedy Knocked Up, which took in $30.6 million last June. And unlike Knocked Up, the Anne Fletcher directed pic didn't earn anywhere close to the same critical accolades (rottentomatoes.com scored the film at just 37%).

Debuting in seventh was the poorly-reviewed comedy Mad Money, which took in an estimated $7.7 million this weekend. Starring Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes, the Overture Pictures release averaged just $3,126 in 2,470 theaters.

Among holdovers, Focus Features' acclaimed Atonement rode a strong wave off its Golden Globe award for Best Dramatic Feature, jumping 12.7% to $4.7 million. In seven weeks of limited release, the Oscar front-runner has grossed $31.8 million. Warner's The Bucket List fell just 22% to $15.1 million, bringing its ten day take to $42.7 million.

The numbers, Dec. 18-20, 2008

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Cloverfield	$41,000,000	3,411	$12,020	$41,000,000	--	1	Paramount
2	27 Dresses	$22,427,000	3,057	$7,336	$22,427,000	--	1	Fox
3	The Bucket List	$15,150,000	2,915	$5,197	$42,709,000	-21.9	4	Warner Bros.
4	Juno	$10,250,000	2,534	$4,045	$85,377,000	-24.7	7	Fox Searchlight
5	National Treasure: Book of Secrets	$8,148,000	2,963	$2,750	$198,030,000	-27.9	5	Buena Vista
6	First Sunday	$7,800,000	2,213	$3,525	$28,466,000	-56.0	2	Sony
7	Mad Money	$7,721,000	2,470	$3,126	$7,721,000	--	1	Overture
8	Alvin and the Chipmunks	$7,000,000	2,962	$2,363	$196,380,000	-24.8	6	Fox
9	I Am Legend	$5,105,000	2,525	$2,022	$247,682,000	-37.6	6	Warner Bros.
10	Atonement	$4,759,000	1,291	$3,686	$31,884,000	12.7	7	Focus

'The Bucket List' debuts with $19.5m as old guys beat Ice Cube, Jan 11-13

Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson peaked plenty of interest for their sentimental end-of-life dramedy The Bucket List despite plenty of poor reviews, topping the box office with an estimated $19.5 million. Averaging an impressive $6,712 in 2,911 theaters, the PG-13 pic was one of four films Warner Bros. landed in the top ten.

It was the fourth highest opening of Nicholson's career, and seventh highest for Freeman. Budgeted at $45 million, the studio pushed the film's two Academy Award winners almost at the expense of the film itself, which was probably a good thing. Critics were largely unimpressed with the overly sentimental script, but without a prominent new release hogging the marquees this weekend, The Bucket List pulled in enough people not watching the NFL Playoffs to edge out a surprisingly strong debut from Ice Cube's First Sunday.

Debuting very strong in second with an estimated $19 million was Ice Cube's latest comedy First Sunday, which finished just $500,000 behind Bucket List despite playing in 698 fewer theaters. Averaging a top ten best $8,586, the critically-immune PG-13 pic about two criminals trying to rob a neighborhood church provided Ice Cube with the third biggest opening of his career, behind both Barbershop pics. Budgeted at just $20 million, the Sony Screen Gems release should net a very nice profit theatrically.

Fox Searchlight's indie sleeper hit Juno slipped just 12% to an estimated $14 million in third, thanks to solid word of mouth and an additional 523 theaters in its release slate. Averaging $5,719, the $10 million budgeted pic has now amassed $71.3 million, and seems a sure bet to break $100 million domestically. The film is already poised to surpass the $71.5 million gross of 2004's Sideways as the highest grossing film ever for the studio.

The late holiday season's juggernaut release National Treasure: Book of Secrets slipped to No. 4 this weekend with $11.5 million, bringing its cume to a massive $187.3 million. Budgeted at $130 million, the Buena Vista release is now the highest grossing film of Nicolas Cage's career, surpassing 2004's National Treasure with $173 million. Worldwide, the film has amassed $289.3 million.

Two more of the season's big hits finished just behind, with Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks pulling in $9.1 million bringing its cume to $187.7 million, while Will Smith's blockbuster I Am Legend took in $8.1 million bringing the Warner Bros. release to $240.2 million domestically.

Debuting outside of the top ten was the laughably bad Jason Statham adventure pic In the Name of the King, which opened to just $3.3 million. Adapted from a video game, the PG-13 release from Freestyle Releasing averaged just $2,002 in 1,631 theaters, and featured perhaps the worst trailer I've seen in years.

In limited release, Paramount Vantage/Miramax's There Will Be Blood took in an estimated $1.9 million in 129 theaters for a powerful $15,039 average. Directed by Paul T. Anderson and starring Golden Globe winner Daniel Day-Lewis, the dark drama will expand to roughly 400 theaters this Friday.

Thanks to two strong debuts the top ten films grossed $101.1 million, up a healthy 12% from last year's comparable frame when Stomp the Yard topped with $21.8 million.

Coming this week: How the potential cancellation of the Oscars in February could affect the box office

The numbers, Jan. 11-13, 2008

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	The Bucket List	$19,540,000	2,911	$6,712	$20,964,000	--	3	Warner Bros.
2	First Sunday	$19,000,000	2,213	$8,586	$19,000,000	--	1	Sony
3	Juno	$14,000,000	2,448	$5,719	$71,250,000	-11.7	6	Fox Searchlight
4	National Treasure: Book of Secrets	$11,482,000	3,377	$3,400	$187,295,000	-42.8	4	Buena Vista
5	Alvin and the Chipmunks	$9,100,000	3,384	$2,689	$187,740,000	-41.5	5	Fox
6	I Am Legend	$8,130,000	3,353	$2,425	$240,234,000	-48.3	5	Warner Bros.
7	One Missed Call	$6,130,000	2,240	$2,737	$20,642,000	-51.0	2	Warner Bros.
8	P.S. I Love You	$5,000,000	2,323	$2,152	$47,003,000	-36.2	4	Warner Bros.
9	The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything	$4,419,000	1,337	$3,305	$4,419,000	--	1	Universal
10	Atonement	$4,300,000	950	$4,526	$25,208,000	-15.1	6	Focus

Spotlight: No Country for Old Men (2007)

The Coen Bros.' critically acclaimed book-adaptation No Country for Old Men is among the front-runners for Best Film at this year's Academy Awards. The dark, moody and violent Western topped many critics lists for 2007, but never quite gained the mainstream traction Miramax was hoping for. Opening with $7.7m in its first weekend of wide release, the film has run off with $45.7 million in North America, sneaking past O' Brother Where Art Thou?'s $45.5 million to make it the highest grossing Coen Brothers film ever. No Country will almost surely get a big boost during the Awards season, and could hang around long enough to finish with over $80 million domestically.

Starring Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, No Country took top honors at the Critics Choice Awards, which also awarded Spanish star Javier Bardem with best supporting actor. As an aside, No Country was without a doubt the best film I saw of 2007.

Budget: $12-17m
Opening weekend: $1.2m
Total Gross: $44.9m

Spotlight: Enchanted (2007)

Finally bowing out of the top ten was Disney's well-reviewed family comedy Enchanted, which has grossed a magical $119.8 million domestically and an additional $110.6 million overseas. Starring Amy Adams, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy, Enchanted became the family film sleeper hit of the Holidays thanks to solid reviews and strong word of mouth.

Debuting with $50 million over its first five days, Enchanted became the second biggest opening ever over the Thanksgiving Holiday frame, behind only 1999's Toy Story 2 (also released by Disney) with $80.1 million. The film is now the sixth highest grossing PG-rated film released in 2007, just behind the $125.2 million tally of Paramount/DreamWorks' Bee Movie. Look for the Kevin Lima directed pic to finish with $130 million domestically. Disney will release the film on DVD and Bluray around Easter time.

Budget: $75m
Opening weekend: $34.4m
Total Gross: $119.8m

New blog, and big apologies!

Hey folks, so I unfortunately had to shut down the column for a few critical weeks over the holidays to revamp this section of the site. I really just want to say sorry for stringing you along like this, but I hope you like the new look. We'll have more consistent postings here, and we've also finally got RSS Feeds!

I'm also hoping this will enable a bit more participation from our knowledgeable readers in the comment section. Feel free to post comments about what you'd like to see us do in this section in the future!

'National Treasure' finds loot for a third straight weekend, Jan. 4-6

Despite just one newcomer this weekend, the horror entry One Missed Call, the box office got off to a great start in 2008, led by Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets which topped the box office for a third straight weekend with $20.2 million. I Am Legend took the No. 2 spot with $16.3 million, while Fox Searchlight's indie-comedy Juno saw a fantastic 52% jump in sales to finish third with $16.2 million.


Finishing in the No. 1 spot once again was Nicolas Cage's blockbuster sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which fell just 45% to an estimated $20.2 million. That pushes its 17 day take to an incredible $171 million, nearly surpassing the entire $173 million gross of the original Treasure. Despite lackluster reviews, audiences have clearly embraced the treasure hunters in their latest escapade. By next weekend Book will have become the highest grossing film of Nicolas Cage's career, surpassing the original National Treasure. At its current pace, look for Book to finish with $225 million domestically.

Will Smith's I Am Legend barely edged out a resurgent Juno for the No. 2 spot this weekend with $16.4 million. Falling just 40%, the Warner Bros. remake has now grossed a massive $228.7 million in four weeks of release, and now ranks as Smith's third highest grossing film ever. Only 1996's Independence Day with $306.2 million and 1997's Men in Black with $250.1 million have grossed more. Legend has also become the second biggest non-sequel this year, behind only Transformers's $319.1 million.

Internationally, I am Legend has grossed $170.2 million, pushing its worldwide take to nearly $400 million.

The biggest surprise of the weekend was the expansion of Fox Searchlight's teen pregnancy comedy Juno, which finished a strong third with $16.2 million. Expanding from 1,019 to 1,925 theaters, the Ellen Page starrer fell just 19% this weekend, averaging a powerful $8,429 per theater.

A critical darling which has landed on quite a few top ten lists, Juno has generated strong buzz from audiences, and the indie hit has now grossed $52 million domestically. Budgeted at a mere $2.5 million, the film has a very real shot at surpassing $100 million domestically.

Just behind Juno was Fox's comedy smash Alvin and the Chipmunks, which fell 45% to $16 million in its fourth week of release. Its total now stands at $176.7 million. Budgeted at $70 million, the film is on pace to surpass the $183.1 million from The Simpsons Movie, currently the highest grossing film of 2007 for Fox. Look for Alvin to finish with $210 million domestically.

Warner Bros.' horror remake One Missed Call rounded out the top five with an estimated $13.5 million debut. A remake of a Japanese horror film, the PG-13 release averaged a strong $6,038, playing strong with the teens demographic.

The numbers, Jan. 4-6, 2008

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	National Treasure: Book of Secrets	$20,225,000	3,762	$5,376	$171,033,000	-44.8	3	Buena Vista
2	I Am Legend	$16,375,000	3,648	$4,489	$228,718,000	-40.3	4	Warner Bros.
3	Juno	$16,225,000	1,925	$8,429	$52,032,000	52.6	5	Fox Searchlight
4	Alvin and the Chipmunks	$16,000,000	3,462	$4,622	$176,738,000	-44.9	4	Fox
5	One Missed Call	$13,525,000	2,240	$6,038	$13,525,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
6	Charlie Wilson's War	$8,184,000	2,594	$3,155	$52,630,000	-31.9	3	Universal
7	P.S. I Love You	$8,015,000	2,471	$3,244	$39,383,000	-13.7	3	Warner Bros.
8	The Water Horse	$6,300,000	2,777	$2,269	$30,893,000	-31.4	2	Sony
9	Sweeney Todd	$5,400,000	1,249	$4,323	$38,472,000	-34.1	3	Paramount
10	Atonement	$5,124,000	583	$8,789	$19,216,000	64.1	5	Focus