Vampires Suck Jennifer Aniston's Movie Dry…Er, Right?

Actress' The Switch doesn't impress, but doesn't exactly get killed by Twilight spoof

By Joal Ryan Aug 22, 2010 6:39 PMTags
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Jennifer Aniston, funny vampires, 3D fish and more all crowded into the multiplex this weekend. Who had the worst time of it? And who had the best?

You may be surprised.

Pound for pound, the winner among the box office's new movies was Lottery Ticket. Reputation-wise, the loser was Aniston, whose The Switch  grossed more per theater than Vampire Sucks, did better than its eighth-place ranking indicates, but that you're going to think bombed anyway.

Overall, Vampires Suck ($12.2 million) was the top new movie. Since debuting Wednesday, the $20 million Twilight spoof has grossed $18.6 million domestically.

Moving down through the standings, Lottery Ticket, the $17 million Bow Wow comedy, sold more tickets per theater than any Top 10 movie, including Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables ($16.5 million; $64.9 million overall), which enjoyed a second straight weekend at No. 1. Ranking-wise, Lottery Ticket placed fourth, with $11.1 million. 

Piranha 3D made Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus green with envy, scaring up a respectable $10 million, and finishing sixth. 

Bigger things were expected of Nanny McPhee Returns ($8.3 million), which opened in seventh. No disastrous matter, though, for the Emma Thompson family franchise—the $35 million movie, which opened in Europe and parts elsewhere in the spring, has already grossed more than $70 million worldwide.

Moving on further down, we finally find The Switch ($8.1 million). Theater for theater, it was the Top 10's fourth-biggest grosser, behind Lottery Ticket, The Expendables and the 3D fish movie, but go ahead and say it was no—insult of insults—The Back-Up Plan, the film that made Jennifer Lopez consider a gig on American Idol. (Just so you know, The Back-Up Plan opened on 1,000-plus more screens than The Switch.)

Compared to Aniston's last movie, The Bounty Hunter, The Switch inarguably was not as potent. Instead, it performed almost exactly like last fall's Love Happens, which was a romantic-drama, and was expected to perform accordingly (read: not do so much).

Elsewhere:

• Angelina Jolie's Salt fell out of the Top 10 after four weekends, and a $109.9 million domestic run. Worldwide, the $110 million action flick is nearing $200 million.

Both of Steve Carell's summer movies exited the Top 10. The great: Despicable Me lasted six weekends, and has grossed a whopping $230.7 million domestically. The not-so great: Dinner for Schmucks hung around for three weekends, and hasn't yet matched its $69 million budget domestically. (It's at $65.8 million.)  

Toy Story 3 moved past Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Spider-Man to settle into ninth place on the list of all-time domestic hits. Worldwide, it became the top-grossing animated film of all-time, Disney said, with $984.3 million.    

Here's a complete look at the weekend's top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

  1. The Expendables, $16.5 million
  2. Vampires Suck, $12.2 million
  3. Eat Pray Love, $12 million
  4. Lottery Ticket, $11.1 million
  5. The Other Guys, $10.1 million
  6. Piranha 3D, 10 million
  7. Nanny McPhee Returns, $8.3 million
  8. The Switch, $8.1 million
  9. Inception, $7.7 million
  10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, $5 million

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Photos: Totally New Releases.