All in all, this was one of the two slowest weekends of 2011 so far; only the unofficial holiday weekend containing Super Bowl Sunday was slower way back in February. While some will no doubt fault the impending threat of Hurricane Irene for the low-key box office, it didn't seem to have too adverse an effect of The Help. After debuting in second place, the adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's bestseller hopped up to first place last weekend, due largely to its happily inspiring tone and an enjoyable cast led by Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer.
In its second week atop the heap, the film added an estimated $14.3 million and brought its total within easy striking distance of the coveted $100 million mark. Once again, The Help retained a majority of its audience from the preceding weekend, as its gross declined just 28%.
Out of the three new releases, the Luc Besson-produced action-fest Colombiana came out on top, with Zoe Saldana in a variety of skintight outfits and firing all manner of giant phallic weapons propelled the revenge tale to second place. An estimated $10.3 million haul is a respectable figure, exceeding the opening weekend of Saldana's last automatic-weaponry intensive outing The Losers, which opened to $9.4 million last year.
The Guillermo del Toro-produced horror remake Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, meanwhile, opened in third place with an $8.68 estimate. Earlier this year, distributor FilmDistrict's low-budget supernatural horror film Insidious took everyone by surprise, busting out with more than $13 million, and the expectations generated by that picture make Don't Be Afraid of the Dark's debut look perhaps a bit more disappointing than it actually is. The film's estimated gross this weekend is only about $300,000 greater than that of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The summer's last successful tentpole declined just 48% from last weekend, bringing it's total to a robust $148.4 million over four weekends in theaters. Keep in mind that with such a narrow margin, the third and fourth place films just might swap places when the actual figures are unveiled on Monday.
Our Idiot Brother, the Paul Rudd comedy distributed by The Weinstein Company, opened behind the other two new releases, coming in fifth place with $6.5 million in estimated receipts. Given that the ever-likable Rudd leads a cast that includes Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Adam Scott, and Steve Coogan, that figure may look less-than-stellar, and while the Brothers Weinstein were almost certainly hoping for more, keep in mind that the film was independently financed for just $5 million.
Last weekend's uniformly disappointing releases continued the trend they established right out the gate by again posting some pretty dismal numbers. Establishing a pattern, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World did best, coming in sixth place with a $5.7 million estimate. The remakes Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night dropped to eighth and ninth place, respectively. The new version of Robert E. Howard's decapitating, musclebound hero declined a precipitous 69% from last weekend, while Fright Night lost 60% of its already-unimpressive opening weekend audience. These two films, which may very well herald the widespread rejection of 3D, both came in well behind The Smurfs in its fifth weekend. Not only that, but both very narrowly squeaked ahead of Crazy, Stupid, Love.
And here, in summation is the top ten for the weekend of August 26-28:
1. The Help $14.3 million $96.6 million
2. Colombiana $10.3 million New Release
3. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark $8.68 million New Release
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes $8.65 million $148.4 million
5. Our Idiot Brother $6.5 million New Release
6. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World $5.7 million $21.7 million
7. The Smurfs $4.8 million $125.9 million
8. Conan the Barbarian $3.1 million $16.5 million
9. Fright Night $3.0 million $14.2 million
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love. $2.9 million $69.5 million
Next weekend sees the wide releases of Shark Night 3D, The Debt, and Apollo 18.
