Well, at least the teen-slasher-horror hook still works.
In a movie year of dwindling receipts and attendance, Prom Night did its thing, debuting with $20.8 million, per final studio figures compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations, more than enough to top the weekend box office.
The remake grossed more in 72 hours than the Jamie Lee Curtis original made during its entire run, which, granted, occurred nearly 30 years ago. And it outperformed other recent horror updates, including When a Stranger Calls, The Hitcher, The Omen and The Hills Have Eyes.
Outside of Prom Night, moviegoers found the pickings slim. On the whole, the box office was down more than 18 percent when compared to the same weekend last year.
Not a blip, but a trend, overall business through the first 15 weeks of 2008 is down more than 3 percent from 2007, Exhibitor Relations said. Actual attendance is down more than 6 percent.
Everything, of course, could be righted next weekend—provided Forgetting Sarah Marshall, opening Friday, makes a dollar for every one of its bus and billboard ads.
Elsewhere:
- Keanu Reeves, Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker and House's Hugh Laurie added up to a tepid second-place debut for the cop-gang drama Street Kings ($12.5 million).
- The new ensemble comedy Smart People (seventh place, $4.1 million) had about as much luck breaking wide as Barack Obama did in delivering a nuanced observation about bitter people.
- Hollywood's down year cannot be blamed on 21 (third place, $10.5 million; $61.7 million).
- A disappointment last weekend, Nim's Island (fourth place, $9.1 million; $25.4 million overall) held up OK.
- A disappointment last weekend, George Clooney's Leatherheads (fifth place, $6.3 million; $22 million) was a disappointment this weekend, too.
- Out of the top 10 after only three weekends, Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns ($1.6 million; $40.1 million overall) goes down as its namesake's weakest-performing movie since the like-branded Daddy's Little Girls ($31.4 million in 2007, per Box Office Mojo).
- Also leaving the top 10 were Shutter ($1.1 million; $24.9 million overall) and former No. 1 occupant 10,000 B.C. ($1.5 million; $91.8 million overall).
- It hasn't reached $100 million, and it hasn't made back its reputed production budget, but, as things stands now, 10,000 B.C. is your No. 2-grossing movie of the year, after Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (sixth place, $5.9 million; $139.5 million overall).
- Playing at only four theaters, The Visitor, a little movie about unexpected friendship, drummed up a big $86,488.
- Young@Heart ($50,937 at four theaters), the new rock documentary about the senior chorus, Young@Heart, outdid, screen for screen, Shine a Light ($960,469 at 277 theaters), the two-week-old rock documentary about the aged band, the Rolling Stones.
Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on final Friday-Sunday figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. Prom Night, $20.8 million
2. Street Kings, $12.5 million
3. 21, $10.5 million
4. Nim's Island, $9.1 million
5. Leatherheads, $6.3 million
6. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, $5.9 million
7. Smart People, $4.1 million
8. The Ruins, $3.4 million
9. Superhero Movie, $3.2 million
10. Drillbit Taylor, $2 million
(Originally published April 13 at 3:11 p.m. PT.)