The Covenant, a Lost Boys meets The Craft tale about teens trying to destroy each other with supernatural powers, took the top spot at the North American box office this weekend with only $9 million.
By comparison, the debut of The Exorcism of Emily Rose took in more than $30 million in the same weekend a year ago.
“The summer (movie) season ended on a pretty high note, but the fall season is starting off a little slow,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press. “I don’t think anyone expected this weekend to set the world on fire in terms of box office.”
The Covenant pushed the reigning champ, the football drama Invincible, down to third place with $5.7 million, while Hollywoodland–a film noir examining the 1959 death of TV’s Superman, George Reeves, and starring Ben Affleck, Diane Lane and Adrien Brody—opened in second with $6 million.
Also debuting this weekend was The Protector, a martial arts thriller starring newcomer Tony Jaa, which landed in the fourth spot with $5 million.
Meanwhile, after 10 weeks in theaters, the year’s biggest hit, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, jumped the $1 billion mark internationally–the third film to do so behind Titanic and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The top 12 movies grossed $54.3 million this weekend, down 25.97 percent from last year’s draw of $73.4 and down 30.53 percent from last weekend’s total of $78.2 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Screen Gems’ The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which opened No. 1 with $30 million in 2,981 theaters, averaging $10,082 per theater; Universal’s The 40 Year-Old Virgin, which stayed in second place in its third week of release with $7.7 million in 2,974 theaters, averaging $2,595 per theaters; and 20th Century Fox’s Transporter 2, which dropped to third place in its second week with $7.3 million in 3,320 theaters, averaging $2,226 per theaters (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: The Covenant (Screen Gems, PG-13)
• Gross: $9 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,681
• Per-theater average: $3,357
No. 2: Hollywoodland (Focus Features, R)
• Gross: $6 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,548
• Per-theater average: $3,881
No. 3: Invincible (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $5.7 million (-52%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,987 (+66)
• Per-theater average: $1,936
• Cume to date: $45.6 million
No. 4: The Protector (Weinstein Co., R)
• Gross: $5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,541
• Per-theater average: $3,265
No. 5: Crank (Lions Gate, R)
• Gross: $4.8 million (-54%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,515 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,909
• Cume to date: $19.8 million
No. 6: The Illusionist (Yari Film Group, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.6 million (-26%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 1,362 (+391)
• Per-theater average: $3,406
• Cume to date: $18 million
No. 7: Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight, R)
• Gross: $4.4 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 1,560 (-42)
• Per-theater average: $2,837
• Cume to date: $41.6 million
No. 8: Wicker Man (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $4.1 million (-57%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,784 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,478
• Cume to date: $17.4 million
No. 9: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $3 million (-51%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,617 (-384)
• Per-theater average: $1,146
• Cume to date: $142.1 million
No. 10: Barnyard (Paramount, PG)
• Gross: $2.5 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,506 (-401)
• Per-theater average: $1,032
• Cume to date: $66.8 million
