Never underestimate the power of teenage girls. This weekend, the sleeper hit Dear John managed to sneak in and steal the box office crown from Avatar (which just passed Titanic as the all-time box office champion). Based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, the film's weekend figures were far north of what the suits were predicting, pulling in an impressive $32.4 million despite weak reviews and no marquee names. Word-of-mouth and good timing obviously did wonders here.
As for Avatar, anything at this point is just icing on the cake. In its eighth weekend in release, James Cameron's sci-fi epic tacked on another cool $23.6 million on top of its $2 billion and counting worldwide tally. This is history in the making, folks, and a sequel is all but guaranteed at this point.
Elsewhere, John Travolta's latest offering as a bald bad guy didn't prove so hot this time as From Paris with Love only eeked out $8.1 million. Compared to his last effort at over-the-top villainy in last summer's hit The Taking of Pelham 123, this one pales in comparison.
Another aging movie star, Mel Gibson, can't be too happy either. His comeback vehicle Edge of Darkness earned a paltry $7 million to push its accumulative total after 2 weeks to just $29 million. That's a huge percentage drop from last weekend. Looks like Mel will have to count on DVD grosses to push this flick into the black.
However, in more positive news, the Oscar nominations announced this past Tuesday morning did help out some smaller releases, particularly Jeff Bridges' Oscar-nominated turn as an alcoholic country singer in Crazy Heart. Still in limited release, the story of Bad Blake and his road to redemption burst into the top 10 with $3.6 million. As it rolls out slowly in the weeks to come, look for this little gem from first-time writer-director Scott Cooper to gain traction and do great business.
Meanwhile, The Book of Eli, starring Denzel Washington as an apocalyptic road warrior, has quietly climbed its way toward $100 million in the month it has been out in theaters. This is good news for the Hughes brothers, as their last effort was the Johnny Depp flop From Hell. It should be no news for Denzel, who continues to be one of the most rock solid movie stars in America.
Looking forward to next weekend, expect the uniquely-titled Valentine's Day starring a slew of pretty Hollywood faces to cash in on the holiday the same way a new Saw molests every Halloween. Also, expect Dear John to hold over well next weekend as well, as the gooey Nicholas Sparks love story should do solid business. For those looking for an alternative to the sap, Universal's The Wolfman should suffice as a backup option. Benicio del Toro stars in an inspired bit of casting alongside Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt in the classic monster tale of weirdo Lawrence Talbot and his shape-shifting ways. Looks classy.
Rounding out the top 10 was Sherlock Holmes, adding $2.6 million to the till en route to a cumulative gross of just over $200 million. Between this and the much anticipated Iron Man sequel coming this May, it appears that Robert Downey, Jr. is back on top. Kudos.
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