Top 10 for September 8-10, 2006 Summary: Final numbers are in.
With summer officially in the rear view mirror and the NFL celebrating its opening weekend, the marketplace struggled to pull moviegoers into theaters despite three newcomers, as the top ten films finished off a woeful 30% below last year's comparable frame when The Exorcism of Emily Rose led all films with $30.1 million.
Leading the charge this weekend was Sony's thriller The Covenant, which debuted with an estimated $9 million in 2,681 theaters, averaging a weak $3,357 per theater. It was the weakest post-Labor Day weekend since 2003, when Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star opened with a soft $6.7 million, and the first sub-$10 million debut in two years.
Debuting in second place with an estimated $6 million was the noir thriller Hollywoodland, based on the death of Superman actor George Reeves. Starring Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, and Ben Affleck, the film received overall solid reviews from critics, averaging a top ten best $3,881 in 1,548 theaters.
Slipping 52% to third with an estimated $5.8 million was Mark Wahlberg's two-week champ Invincible. In 17 days the Disney sports drama has scored $45.7 million, and looks headed towards $60 million domestically.
Thai action superstar Tony Jaa's The Protector opened with an estimated $5 million in fourth, averaging a lackluster $3,265 from 1,541 theaters. Released by the Weinstein Co., the R-rated actioner finished significantly higher than Jaa's previous action release Ong Bak (also released by the studio), which opened to $1.3 million from just 387 theaters.
By far the smallest drop in the top ten came from the Edward Norton-Paul Giamatti period mystery The Illusionist, which slipped just 25% to an estimated $4.6 million. Yari Film Group, which has done a very effective job marketing the $16 million budgeted release, added nearly 400 theaters to the film's release slate (1,362 theater total), pushing its four week cume to a solid $18 million. Fox Searchlight's indie-hit Little Miss Sunshine fell 42% to $4.4 million, pushing its seven week cume to an impressive $41.6 million.
With no new films leading the charge the top ten films grossed a meager $49.4 million, down a hefty 30% from last year's comparable frame when The Exorcism of Emily Rose debuted at No. 1 with $30.1 million.
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