2/07/10 Box Office Results: ‘Dear John’ Trumps Cameron, Award-Centrics Get Their Due

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Oscar season is among us, and like I previously mentioned people are finally giving the nominations a chance. However, if you didn’t see any of them odds are you saw Dear John, the latest adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel. It knocked Avatar off its seven-weekend #1 spot to debut in primary with $32.4 million. The romantic drama starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as a couple who communicate with each other through letters trumped Nights in Rodanthe’s opening weekend of $13.4 million, the last book-turned-movie of Sparks. It also topped The Notebook’s bow of $13.5 million in 2004.

Not so far away from Dear John, James Cameron’s Avatar took a 24.6% dive to second place with $23.6 million. Its domestic total last week finally beat Titanic’s lifetime of $600.8 million with a massive $630.1 million cumulative. The next film from Taken director Pierre Morel From Paris With Love opened with $8.1 million. The action/thriller starring John Travolta may have suffered from the fact that its targeted audience of men was too busy preparing for Sunday’s Super Bowl game, with no time to go to the movies.

In fourth place, Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness fell a steep 59.3% from first place with $7 million. The revenge thriller’s total is up to $29.1 million in ten days, trying to make back an $80 million budget. Tooth Fairy finishes us up at #5 with $6.5 million, falling 35% from last weekend. The Dwayne Johnson-starrer has a grand sum of $34.3 million in three weeks.

Out of the top five-

• Like I said, the Oscar baits are finally getting the cash they rightfully deserve. Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart, starring a likely win Jeff Bridges, increased 58.1% over football weekend and entered the top ten, expanding onto 580 more screens. The country-western weeper has a total of $11.2 million.
• It was funny seeing Lone Scherfig’s An Education came back to the marquees in Connecticut this weekend. The coming-of-age flick, with best actress nominee Carey Mulligan (deserving a win), found its weekend total go up 668% as it amplified an extra 686 screens. The two-day expedition total: a healthy $915,000. Its complete epitome: $9.8 million.
• Tom Ford’s A Single Man was playing on another 137 more screens, resulting in a weekend total of $631,000, a 14.1% increase from last weekend.
• Michael Hoffman’s Leo Tolstoy biopic The Last Station came onto 42 more screens and inherited $371,000, 337.8% more than its last check-in.
• Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon entered four more theaters and came out with $132,000, a 12.9% increase.
• IFC’s Red Riding Trilogy, three films from author David Peace following an English serial killer in the ‘70s and ‘80s, debuted with $15,500 on one screen.
• Henrik Ruben Genz’s drama Terribly Happy, about a relocated cop after a mental disruption, managed $13,000 on one screen.
• Meanwhile, The Hurt Locker was sent to DVD by Summitt, which removed it from theaters. Summit, revenue wise, messed up.

Here are the box office results according to studio estimates Sunday-

1. 1. Dear John…$32.4 million
2. 2. Avatar…$23.6 million
3. 3. From Paris With Love…$8.1 million
4. 4. Edge of Darkness…$7 million
5. 5. Tooth Fairy…$6.5 million
6. 6. When in Rome…$5.5 million
7. 7. The Book of Eli…$4.8 million
8. 8. Crazy Heart…$3.7 million
9. 9. Legion (2010)…$3.4 million
10. 10. Sherlock Holmes…$2.6 million