Fireproof's Hot; Eagle Eye's Bigger

Kirk Cameron Christian-themed movie looks big in only about 800 theaters; Shia LaBeouf's latest thriller opens No. 1

By Joal Ryan Sep 28, 2008 7:54 PMTags
Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Eagle EyeRalph Nelson SMPSP/DreamWorks

Shia LaBeouf held. Kirk Cameron soared.

LaBeouf scored his fourth straight No. 1 movie with a $29.2 million debut from Eagle Eye, per studio estimates compiled today by Exhibitor Relations.

Cameron's Fireproof, a Christian-themed movie that motivated its Christian base to gobble up advance tickets, bowed in fourth with a strong $6.5 million.

The Dark Knight, meanwhile, finished out of the top 10 for the first time in more than two months. Hollywood's No. 2 movie of all time still managed to take in another $1.7 million, per Box Office Mojo, and push its overall haul to $524.5 million.

For LaBeouf, the critically panned Eagle Eye gave him the chance to prove he can open a critically panned movie, no less than a critical skill for a movie star.

The thriller, LaBeouf's first after two special-effects extravaganzas (Transformers and the latest Indiana Jones), actually improved on the performance by the better-received Disturbia, which opened with $22.2 million last year.

Debuting at 839 theaters, Fireproof grossed more money than any film this year that opened at fewer than 1,000 screens, save one movie, its distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films said. The one exception: the Hannah Montana concert movie, Best of Both Worlds, which made a phenomenal $31.1 million off only 683 theaters, albeit 683 pricier, 3-D-equipped theaters.

For Cameron, Fireproof is a big box-office improvement over his last Christian movie, Left Behind, which bowed with $2.2 million in 2001 (after the movie had already premiered on DVD), and an even bigger improvement over his last studio movie, the nearly 20-year-old Listen to Me, which needed its entire run to come up with $4.3 million.

Overall, the battle of the former child stars—LaBeouf grew up on Even Stevens; Cameron on Growing Pains—was won by LaBeouf, whose Eagle Eye narrowly outgrossed, theater for theater, Fireproof.

Other doings at the weekend box office:

  • The Dark Knight's string of 10 straight weekends in the top 10 was impressive, but it wasn't nearly impressive enough to enter record-setting territory. According to Box Office Mojo, E.T. tops all marathon runners with 35 consecutive weekends in the top 10, and 44 top 10 weekend finishes overall.
  • Another former child actor, Diane Lane, scored well with her and Richard Gere's new romantic drama, Nights in Rodanthe (second place, $13.6 million). The debut was the two actors' strongest since they last teamed up in 2002's Unfaithful ($14.1 million).
  • Not even the presence of a former kid star (30 Rock's Joseph Gordon-Levitt) could save Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna (ninth place, $3.5 million). Lee's Crooklyn made more money in its opening weekend—14 years ago.
  • It could be said that the World War II-set Miracle at St. Anna played as poorly as an Iraq War drama, except The Lucky Ones, featuring Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Peña as Iraq War vets, showed again how very, very poorly Iraq War dramas perform. Playing at 425 theaters, The Lucky Ones "grossed" $50,000 on opening day. Its weekend total was a grand $208,000.
  • Give Burn After Reading (fifth place, $6.1 million; $45.5 million overall) a couple more days, and it'll pass O Brother, Where Art Thou? to become the Coen brothers' second-biggest grossing movie. (No Country for Old Men is their personal No. 1.)
  • Ricky Gervais killed at the Emmys; Ghost Town ($2.9 million; $9.2 million overall) died at the box office—and fell out of the top 10 after a stay of just one weekend.
  • The Women ($2.7 million; $24.1 million overall) was out of the top 10 after two modest weekends; The House Bunny ($1.2 million; $47.3 million overall, per Box Office Mojo) was done after five less-modest weekends.
  • The Duchess ($570,000 at 55 theaters; $837,000 overall) and Appaloosa ($145,000 at 14 theaters; $479,000 overall) continued to star in limited release.

Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

  1. Eagle Eye, $29.2 million
  2. Nights in Rodanthe, $13.6 million
  3. Lakeview Terrace, $7 million
  4. Fireproof, $6.5 million
  5. Burn After Reading, $6.1 million
  6. Igor, $5.5 million
  7. Righteous Kill, $3.803 million
  8. My Best Friend's Girl, $3.8 million
  9. Miracle at St. Anna, $3.5 million
  10. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, $3.2 million