HOLLYWOOD - Boo!Moviegoers aching for a good horror pic propelled Darkness Falls from obscurity to the top of the box office this weekend, knocking last week's victor, Jerry Bruckheimer's Down Under comedy Kangaroo Jack, to second place. While the expansion of Chicago hit a high box office note, the biopic Confessions of a Dangerous Mind proved more of a disappointment.
Darkness Falls, about a small town haunted by a killer Tooth Fairy, took in a not so menacing $12.5 million*. The film profited from being the only new wide release to hit theaters this week. Kangaroo Jack, now in its second week, bounded behind with $11.9 million.
Hot on the heels of its Golden Globe award for best motion picture for a musical or comedy, the crime musical Chicago came in third with $8.4 million. Apparently, everyone really does loves a legend.
Audiences, however, weren't clamoring to see Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. The Chuck Barris biopic landed in eighth place with $6 million.
The Hours, meanwhile, continued its limited run but still managed to round out the Top 10 with $4 million.
The small screen apparently gave theatrical releases a run for their money this week, as moviegoers opted to stay home and watch the Super Bowl instead, causing box office dollars to decline.
THE TOP TEN
Sony Picture's PG-13-rated Darkness Falls opened with an ESTIMATED $12.5 million at 2,837 theaters ($4,406 per theater).
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, it stars Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield and Lee Cormie.
The horror flick revolves around a young boy who claims to have awakened from a sound sleep to see the Tooth Fairy trying to kill him. Years later he returns to confront his troubled past and save his hometown from an unrelenting evil that has plagued it for over a century.
Last week's box office champ, Warner Bros.' PG-rated Kangaroo Jack, was bumped to second place in its second week. The comedy took in an ESTIMATED $11.9 million (-28%) at 2,848 theaters (+30 theaters; $4,189 per theater). Its cume is approximately $35.4 million.
Directed by David McNally, it stars Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson and Estella Warren.
In its first week of wide expansion, Miramax's PG-13-rated Chicago climbed three notches to third place with an ESTIMATED $8.4 million (+11%) at 616 theaters (+59 theaters; $13, 721 per theater). The musical comedy had the highest per theater average of any film this week. Its cume is approximately $40.5 million.
Directed by Rob Marshall, it stars Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere.
The honeymoon is far from over for 20th Century Fox's Just Married. In its third week of release the PG-13 comedy fell one rung to fourth place with an ESTIMATED $7.4 million (-37%) at 2,706 theaters (-63 theaters; $2,761 per theater). Its cume is approximately $44.3 million.
Directed by Shawn Levy, it stars Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy.
*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.