Audiences Get Off Eastwood's Lawn, Get Into Theaters
Clint Eastwood's GRAN TORINO (Warner Bros.) won the weekend box office in its fifth week out, earning $29.5M with its expansion to 2,808 theaters. In total, the film's gross is $40.5M.
Romantic comedy BRIDE WARS from 20th Century Fox (vfx from Custom Film Effects) came in second in its opening weekend with $21.06M.
Horror opener THE UNBORN came in third with $19.8M for Universal. VFX were by Asylum VFX.
MARLEY & ME (Fox, vfx by At The Post, LOOK! Effects and Lola Visual Effects), the winner for the past two weeks, slipped to fourth place with $11.39M and a three-week gross of $123.75M.
Paramount's THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON fell to fifth place with $9.2M and a three-week cume of $94.1M. The Brad Pitt-starring drama's vfx were by Asylum VFX, Digital Domain, Drac Studios, Evil Eye Pictures, Gentle Giant Studios, Hydraulx, Lola Visual Effects, Matte World Digital, Ollin Studio and Special Effects Atlantic.
BEDTIME STORIES (Disney, vfx by RotoFactory, Cinesite, Gentle Giant Studios, LOOK! Effects, Lola Visual Effects, Mark Rappaport Creature Effects, Proof and Tinsley Transfers) came in sixth place with $8.8M and in three weeks has made $97.4M.
Seventh place went to WWII thriller VALKYRIE from United Artists (vfx by Lidar Services, Sony Pictures Imageworks and The Third Floor), which made $6.6M and $71.5M in three weeks.
Comedy YES MAN placed eighth with $6.03M for Warner Bros. (vfx by LOOK! Effects) and a total cume of $89.3M over four weeks.
Soft opener NOT EASILY BROKEN from Screen Gems made $5.3M in 724 theaters, good enough for ninth place.
And rounding out the top ten was Will Smith's SEVEN POUNDS (Sony, vfx by CafeFX) with $3.8M and $66.7M in four weeks in release.
In animation, THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX (Universal) made $2.7M and in four weeks has a cume of $47.6M. Disney's BOLT earned $1.37M and over eight weeks has a gross of $111.8M. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA (Paramount/DreamWorks Animation) made $319,301 for a 10-week gross of $177.5M.
Sony Pictures Classics' WALTZ WITH BASHIR earned $70,737 in eight theaters and has earned $374,325 in three weeks. Summit Ent.'s FLY ME TO THE MOON made $43,595 and in 22 weeks has made $12.6M. IGOR from MGM made $18,565 and $19.5M in 17 weeks.
Box office information from BoxOfficeMojo.com.