Top Shelf at the Box Office for March 23rd!

Ok, so I was wrong. So sue me. This is why I'm not a box office analyst. I don't get paid to predict how movies are gonna do, although that job does sound pretty damn sweet! Not quite as cool as my dream to actually own my own movie theater, but still pretty cool.

1. Knowing- $24.8M

Nicolas Cage proves me wrong again. His sci-fi flick about the coming apocalypse kicked every other film's arse this week, and makes the ninth #1 film he's had since 1997. Pretty impressive. Perhaps I'm wrong in thinking that Cage's best days as a box office star are behind him. This week certainly wasn't lacking in big name competition, and Cage managed to stand triumphant over all of them. With his role in the upcoming superhero flick Kick Ass on the way,Cage might be looking at his tenth #1 film in 12 years.

2. I Love You, Man- $18M

I actually thought this would be #1, just because comedies such as this have been so dominant of late. Still, this is a good start for yet another one of those Apatow-type films, although this one lacking in any real big name support. Don't get me wrong, I love Paul Rudd as much as anyone but superstar he is not. I predict this one will have far more staying power on the charts than Knowing will. Call it a hunch.

3. Duplicity- $14.4M

So what does this piddling $14M dollar opening mean for Julia Roberts perceived star power? Probably not much, although I find it interesting that movies boasting her as a headliner have only been marginally successful as of late. I expected far more from this spy caper, which in my opinion was one of the best films to come out this year so far. I think that this one will hold steady on the charts far longer than Knowing will, mainly because it's too fun of a pairing for everyone to ignore. That and the releases this upcoming week are extremely thin.

4. Race to Witch Mountain- $13M/$44.7M

Last week's top flick tumbles three spots, but still kicked up a respectable $13M. Not bad for a remake of a mostly unseen Disney property from thirty years ago. With Monsters vs. Aliens coming out this week I think most of the "family" demographic will migrate away from this one in droves, so this is likely the last week of double digit numbers.

5. Watchmen- $6.72M/$98.1M

Another week, another $7M. Like I said before, this one will hang around for months thanks to IMAX, so expect the numbers to be like this for a few more weeks. I never predicted that Watchmen would be a $200M blockbuster like some did because the source material is unknown to those who aren't comic book fans. I still believe that at the end of it's run, Watchmen will be considered both a critical and financial success. The question now is whether or not it's enough to maintain Zach Snyder's rep as the patron saint of all comic book adapatations.

6. The Last House on the Left- $5.92M/$24M

7. Taken- $4.1M/$133M

8. Slumdog Millionaire- $2.7M/$137M

9. Madea Goes to Jail- $2.51M/$87.2M

10. Coraline- $2.14M/$72.9M

On another note...

Sunshine Cleaning, the indie comedy starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt had a per site average of over $11,000. That gives it a higher average than any of the top 10 films, and is comparable to how Little Miss Sunshine performed when that film became the breakout indie hit of that year.

After seven weeks of release, Fanboys has earned a total of $606,000. Not bad for a film that was only released in eight cities initially. The force is strong in this one.