Monday Morning Box Office: You'll Get More Of The Same And Like It
As you contemplate the possibility of scalding yourself to death under the "hot" tap on the office Sparkletts cooler, remember this: You are one Monday closer to your holiday vacation. Hang in there as you contemplate the weekend box office numbers:
1. Happy Feet—$17.045 million
2. Casino Royale—$15.1 million
3. Deja Vu—$11.032 million
The studios maintained their post-Thanksgiving tradition of giving the public nothing to gorge on but last weekend's stale leftovers, leaving moviegoers to joylessly swallow down second helpings of dancing penguins, rippling-torsoed superspies, and Bruckheimer-shit-blowing-up in portions roughly 50 percent smaller than the ones they enjoyed over the long holiday.
4. The Nativity Story—$8.025 million
Unfortunately for New Line, the still-underexploited Christian audience seems much more interested in movies depicting the graphic beating and crucifixion of the Messiah than one dramatizing the relatively torture-free story of Jesus' birth. Church basement focus groups who said they would be "strongly interested" in seeing a "$35 million Hollywood version" of the nativity scenes installed in front of their places of worship clearly screwed the studio on this one.
10. National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj—$2.295 million
We were as surprised as anyone to discover that this weekend's Van Wilder sequel was not a direct-to-Blockbuster release. Maybe we should have paid closer attention to the commercials and supported Kumar's ascension to leading-man status.
