Tops at the Box Office

1. How to Train Your Dragon- $20M/$159M
As expected, Dreamworks critically lauded adventure maintained a steady hold from last week, only dropping around 20% and leaping up two spots to claim the #1 spot ahead of the ultra hyped Kick-Ass.

2. Kick-Ass- $19.8M
I'm not surprised. As I've been speculating for months, despite the hype generated by Kick-Ass's wild ads and the buzz generated at conventions over the last year, it's still very much a niche project. It's a sub-genre within the larger superhero genre, and a particularly offensive one at that, further eroding it'a potential audience. Still, that's not the worst possible opening, and one has to expect tons of repeat viewings, so there's a chance that Kick-Ass will hold relatively steady going into next week.

3. Date Night- $17.3M/$49.2M
Thankfully it has now passed the domestic total of the horrendous Date Movie from 2006. I was getting worried there for a minute.

4. Death at a Funeral- $17M
Well, that isn't a Tyler Perry type opening but it's still pretty darn good considering it's a comedy taking place during a funeral. Or maybe it's because of that it did so well? Seeing a talented cast like Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, and literally a dozen others acting like clowns during a sacred occasion clearly was a major draw.

5. Clash of the Titans- $15.8M/$133M
I'm calling this a flop right now, considering the massive hype and budget. Maybe this will help curb all those studios paying a ton of money to add 3-D to films that weren't shot with it in mind. They might've saved a bundle.

6. The Last Song- $5.79M/$50M
Don't you girls have anything better to do?

7. Why Did I Get Married Too?- $4.18M/$54.9M

8. Hot Tub Time Machine- $3.54M/$42.5M
How did this one go so far off the rails? Sheesh.

9. Alice in Wonderland- $3.54M/$324M

10. The Bounty Hunter- $3.2M/$60.4M

Other debut openings this week....Stealth marketing comedy, The Joneses, opened in limited release at 193 sites, bringing in an estimated $554,000.  The Perfect Game, a family friendly sports drama about a little league baseball team, got behind on the count early, scoring $494,000.  The big winner on the indie front was The Secret in Their Eyes, this year's winner for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards. Opening at only 10 locations, it brought in over $176,000. Not too shabby!