The Kerching Saga: New Moon
In the US: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON has a 70% drop in business, but it still keeps #1 with an excellent £42.9m... NINJA ASSASSIN is the week's big disappointment, only taking $13m to premiere at #6... interestingly, despite much better reviews in the US, FANTASTIC MR. FOX only made $6.9m on its first week of general release (sort of the exact opposite of what happened in the UK, where it's a hit with very mixed reviews)... and apocalyptic drama THE ROAD comes in at #10 with $1.5m (not bad, considering it was only showing at 111 locations)...
US TOP 10
(1) 1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon $42.9m
(2) 2. The Blind Side $40.1m
(3) 3. 2012 $17.7m
(-) 4. Old Dogs $16.9m
(5) 5. A Christmas Carol $15.8m
(-) 6. Ninja Assassin $13.3m
(-) 7. Planet 51 $10.2m
(6) 8. Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire $7.08m
(-) 9. Fantastic Mr. Fox $6.97m
(-) 10. The Road $1.5m
In the UK: Despite a 63% drop in business, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON still retains the #1 spot with a great £4.3m... horror documentary PARANORMAL ACTIVITY scares up good business to take #2 with £3.5m... LAW ABIDING CITIZEN has a disappointing but not disastrous debut at #4 with £1.4m... British festive movie NATIVITY! makes £794,000 to debut at #6... and Bollywood movie DE DANA DAN (no, not in any way based on my life) debuts at #8...
UK TOP 10
(1) 1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon £4.3m
(-) 2. Paranormal Activity £3.5m
(3) 3. A Christmas Carol £1.9m
(2) 4. 2012 £1.8m
(-) 5. Law Abiding Citizen £1.4m
(-) 6. Nativity! £794k
(4) 7. Harry Brown £333k
(5) 8. Up £327k
(-) 9. De Dana Dan £308k
(8) 10. A Serious Man £243k
UK RELEASES THIS WEEK
THE BOX
Horror thriller. A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars and kill someone they don't know.
Director: Richard Kelly Starring: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn & Holmes Osborne.
Tomatometer: 45% (Rotten; based on 117 reviews) "Imaginative but often preposterous, The Box features some thrills but largely feels too piecemeal."
THE DESCENT: PART 2
Horror thriller. Distraught, confused, and half-wild with fear, Sarah Carter emerges alone from the Appalachian cave system where she encountered unspeakable terrors...
Director: Jon Harris Starring: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Krysten Cummings, Gavan O'Herlihy, Joshua Dallas, Anna Skellern & Douglas Hodge
Tomatometer: 50% (Fresh; based on 16 reviews)
THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
Drama. A drama set in the days leading up to the 2008 Presidential election, and centred on a high-end Manhattan call girl meeting the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work.
Director: Steven Soderbergh Starring: Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Philip Eytan, T. Colby Trane, Peter Zizzo & Ron Stein
Tomatometer: 61% (Fresh; based on 99 reviews) "Steven Soderbergh's latest lo-fi production is strikingly crafted but emotionally vague."
PLANET 51
Animated sci-fi adventure. American astronaut Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world, and whose only fear is that it will be overrun by alien invaders... like Chuck!
Directors: Jorge Blanco & Javier Abad Voices: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott & John Cleese
Tomatometer: 21% (Rotten; based on 86 reviews) "Planet 51 squanders an interesting premise with an overly familiar storyline, stock characters, and humour that alternates between curious and potentially offensive."
