Final Destination: box office domination
In the US: The fourth FINAL DESTINATION movie had terrible reviews (admittedly though, they came out after the film was released) and was a big draw at the US box-office, snatching #1 from Inglourious Basterds with $27.4m... the other big release, HALLOWEEN II, received very mixed reviews (again, after release -- noticing a trend?) so had to settle for #3 with $16m... and Ang Lee's musical comedy TAKING WOODSTOCK is a huge casualty with a measley $3.4m haul, scraping into the top 10 at #9...
US TOP 10
(-) 1. The Final Destination $27.4m
(1) 2. Inglourious Basterds $19.3m
(-) 3. Halloween II $16.3m
(2) 4. District 9 $10.3m
(3) 5. G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra $7.72m
(5) 6. Julie & Julia $7.04m
(4) 7. The Time Traveler's Wife $6.35m
(6) 8. Shorts $4.51m
(-) 9. Taking Woodstock $3.46m
(7) 10. G-Force $2.82m
In the UK: Echoing its US success, FINAL DESTINATION rockets to #1 with £3.6m, comfortably ahead of Inglourious Basterds... Judd Apatow's FUNNY PEOPLE does okay business to break the £1m barrier to take #3... there's mixed news for Katherine Bigelow's THE HURT LOCKER which (despite a fair amount of publicity and fantastic reviews), doesn't interest British audience as it flops in at #8 with just £308,000, although that's not too bad considering it was only on 140 screens... and Pedro Almodovar's BROKEN EMBRACES fares even worse at #10, although it was only shown on 90 screens...
UK TOP 10
(-) 1. The Final Destination £3.6m
(1) 2. Inglourious Basterds £1.2m
(-) 3. Funny People £1.01m
(2) 4. The Time Traveler's Wife £688k
(4) 5. Aliens In The Attic £679k
(5) 6. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince £521k
(3) 7. G-Force £468k
(-) 8. The Hurt Locker £308k
(7) 9. G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra £305k
(-) 10. Broken Embraces £296k
UK RELEASES THIS WEEK
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
Rom-com. An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.
Director: Marc Webb Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend, Chloe Moretz, Matthew Gray Gubler & Clark Gregg
Tomatometer: 88% (Fresh; based on 168 reviews) "A clever, offbeat romantic comedy, 500 Days of Summer is refreshingly honest and utterly charming."
DISTRICT 9
Sci-fi action drama. An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent that is exposed to their biotechnology.
Director: Neill Blomkamp Starring: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, Elizabeth Mkandawie, John Sumner & William Allen Young
Tomatometer: 89% (Fresh; based on 219 reviews) "Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching, District 9 has action, imagination, and all the elements of a thoroughly entertaining science-fiction classic."
