Weekend Box Office (April 25 - 27, 2008)

by Sujit Chawla

THIS WEEKEND The females beat the males this week as Baby Mama outdueled Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay for the top spot at the box office in this, the final weekend before the summer movie season kicks off.

Former SNL Weekend Update co-anchors, and current BFF's, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's Baby Mama found its way to top of the charts this weekend, taking in $17.4M, according to final studio figures. It was a full $900,000 less than the original weekend estimate released on Sunday. The PG-13 female buddy comedy about Poehler becoming a surrogate mother for Fey, averaged a strong $6,845 per screen for Universal from 2,543 locations.

Landing in second place was the male buddy comedy Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, which smoked up $14.9M this weekend, in one of the last releases for New Line Cinema. In 2004, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle opened with a disappointing $5.5M on its way to a $18.2M final gross. Its sequel, after 4 years of gaining a cult following, nearly hit that amount in its first weekend. It averaged a solid $5,940 from 2,510 joints.

Third and fourth places went to last weekend's numbers one and two. In third was the battle of the martial arts experts, The Forbidden Kingdom. Falling 48% from last weekend, the Lionsgate film brought in $11.2M bringing its total to $38.2M. Look for a final gross in the $55M range. Fourth place went to another Universal comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which slipped 38% to $11M bringing its cume to $35.1M. Look for a final gross in the same $55M range.

Fox and Sony controlled the rest of the top 10, with three titles each. In fifth place for a second consecutive weekend was the family adventure Nim's Island, which had the best hold in the top 10, dipping only 20% for $4.5M this weekend. Its cume now stands at $39M after four weeks.

Sony's triumverate of films landed in the six to eight spots. Leading off was the PG-13 horror film Prom Night, which fell 48% from last weekend to $4.5M, bringing its cume to $38.2M. In seventh was the surprisingly strong 21 which fell only 27% taking in an additional $4M in chips. Its total now stands at a very solid $75.8M. Crashing and burning into eighth was 88 Minutes. The Al Pacino-led thriller fell 48% from last weekend's debut to $3.6M. Its total stands at $12.6M with not much more left in the bucket. Look for a final gross in the $15-20M range.

Spending a seventh week in the top 10, and landing at number nine was the Fox animated hit Horton Hears a Who, which took in $2.5M falling 29% from last weekend. Its cume now stands at a towering $148M. However its reign as the top grossing film of 2008 will come to an end very shortly. And rounding out the top ten was Fox stablemate Deception which landed with a thud and earned $2.3M this weekend, for a per-theater average of a dismal $1,155. Look for a quick trip to the DVD aisles for this one.

The top ten films grossed $76M which was up 34% from last year when Disturbia took its third trip to number one with $9M; and down 12% from 2006 when RV debuted in the top spot with $16.4M.

Compared to projections, Baby Mama and Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay came in higher than Gitesh's predictions of $13M and $11M respectively, while Deception came in under Gitesh's modest projection of $4M.

For NEW reviews of Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and Baby Mama and a NEW DVD review of Cloverfield visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when the summer movie season kicks off with a bang with the release of Iron Man and the counterprogramming of Made of Honor.

Marketplace - Shop for DVDs, electronics, books, and posters at discounted prices:

# Title Apr 25 - 27 Apr 18 - 20 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Baby Mama $ 17,407,110 2,543 1 $ 6,845 $ 17,407,110 Universal
2 Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay 14,908,404 2,510 1 5,940 14,908,404 New Line
3 The Forbidden Kingdom 11,212,364 21,401,121 -47.6 3,151 2 3,558 38,237,498 Lionsgate
4 Forgetting Sarah Marshall 11,028,060 17,725,330 -37.8 2,799 2 3,940 35,090,955 Universal
5 Nim's Island 4,548,792 5,687,072 -20.0 2,977 4 1,528 38,977,518 Fox
6 Prom Night 4,508,122 8,670,364 -48.0 2,821 3 1,598 38,222,732 Sony
7 21 4,018,064 5,520,362 -27.2 2,952 5 1,361 75,792,625 Sony
8 88 Minutes 3,593,890 6,957,216 -48.3 2,168 2 1,658 12,625,951 Sony
9 Horton Hears A Who 2,486,903 3,511,834 -29.2 2,159 7 1,152 147,959,806 Fox
10 Deception 2,312,146 2,001 1 1,155 2,312,146 Fox
11 Street Kings 2,149,063 4,179,505 -48.6 1,735 3 1,239 23,705,977 Fox Searchlight
12 Leatherheads 1,827,555 3,049,465 -40.1 2,255 4 810 29,287,855 Universal
13 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed 1,394,940 2,970,848 -53.0 1,041 2 1,340 5,297,860 Rocky Mountain
14 Smart People 895,175 1,600,687 -44.1 1,036 3 864 8,284,401 Miramax
15 Superhero Movie 869,112 1,608,072 -46.0 1,103 5 788 24,912,802 MGM
16 The Visitor 477,710 166,499 186.9 76 3 6,286 826,290 Overture
17 Shine A Light 425,957 567,933 -25.0 218 4 1,954 4,406,820 Par. Classics
18 The Ruins 420,262 1,209,263 -65.2 722 4 582 16,673,890 Paramount
19 Drillbit Taylor 395,693 894,990 -55.8 702 6 564 30,364,117 Paramount
20 Under the Same Moon 394,443 585,132 -32.6 453 6 871 11,778,691 Weinstein Co.
Top 5 $ 59,104,730 $ 60,441,103 -2.2
Top 10 76,023,855 79,673,117 -4.6
Top 20 85,273,765 88,262,224 -3.4
Top 20 vs. 2007 85,273,765 71,063,278 20.0

Last Updated: April 28, 2008 at 11:15PM EDT

Watch Gitesh Pandya's weekly box office preview on CNN International airing live each Friday at 9:50am ET.