Top Shelf at the Box Office for 4/20/09

The wind's are changing, my friends. For the second week in a row the #1 slot found itself occupied by one of Hollywood's impish upstarts. Last week it was Miley Cyrus, this week it's the Tiger Beat heartthrob Zac Efron. I'm beginning to think that the age of the $20M dollar veteran actor/actress is over, and that a new age of young, "hip", stars rehashing creatively bland material is here.

1. 17 Again- Body swapping films like this are a dize a dozen. They are a familiar premise and are almost always reliable at the box office, no mattter who fills the shoes of the lead character. This time around it's Zac Efron, the guy who bangs Vanessa Hudgins. I think he dances or something, too. Even though I personally believe that Efron's staying power as a major star will be brief, it's hard to deny the fact that he's had three major hits in a row. My major reason for hating this film is that it gives studios another reason to think that Matthew Perry is worth putting in more movies, and that should be a crime in and of itself. I'm starting to see a trend here where major studio films starring the "old guard" of established veteran actors are pulling in less money than expected, while cheapie movies like this starring marginal talent in tired old premises are kicking mucho arse.

2. State of Play- $14.1M

The Russell Crowe/Rachel McAdams political thriller fell within expectations by analysts, but still this has to be somewhat disappointing for a cast this powerful to fall behind a relative newcomer. This is still a better opening weekend than last year's Body of Lies, which only managed to rake in $39M domestically. However with a slew of heavy hitting films coming up, I expect this film to plummet rather quickly and struggle to come close to matching even that tally.

3. Monsters vs. Aliens- $12.9M/$163M

As expected, MvA held on to one of the top spots, based on the strength of IMAX and the strength of the film itself. MvA is now the highest grossing film of the year so far. Even with all of the films coming out this week, I expect this will still manage a top 5 spot next weekend.

4. Hannah Montana: The Movie- $12.7M/$56.1M

Ouch. Last week's numero uno dropped 61% and looks to be tanking fast. No doubt the emergence of the equally teen-centric and family friendly 17 Again had a lot to do with that, as they both appeal to similar audiences. Or it could be that people saw this once, regretted it and told others how much it blows chunkage.

5. Fast & Furious- $12.3M/$137M

6. Crank: High Voltage- $6.51M

The Jason Statham action absurdity debuted at nearly $4M less than it's predecessor, which doesn't surprise me one bit. As much as I dig the franchise, it never should've been a franchise to begin with, and I think audiences realized that one Crank was more than enough. There's something to be said for audiences possibly being pulled away by the somewhat similarly themed Fast & Furious, but that probably has less to do with it than people seeing that this sequel was wholly unnecessary. Even the trailer looked a bit too familiar to the original Crank. That doesn't give people a ton of incentive to see it.

7. Observe & Report- $4.05M/$18.7M

Another Seth Rogen clunker. It's starting to look like Rogen minus the genius of Judd Apatow might not be the superstar we thought he was. After two weeks this movie is now on a track to earn less than Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and that's saying somethin'.

8. Knowing- $3.48M/$73.7M

I can't believe this is still here and making loot. Obviously word of mouth has been very strong, and deservedly so.

9. I Love You, Man- $3.37M/$64.7M

10. The Haunting in Connecticut- $3.15M/$51.9M

Also: Remember Dragonball Evolution? Probably not, since apparently only me and a handful of others actually saw it. Even after it's paltry debut last week it still managed to find 67% to drop, down to $1.6M for the week. Pitiful. American Violet, the true story of a poor woman falsely accused of drug trafficking, debuted in only 61 theaters and hauled in $257,000 for one of the largest per site averages of the week. Not bad. It'll probably expand to more theaters based on these numbers.