Movies: Ghosts and Monsters Top the Box Office

This just in Dreamworks Animation announced their next animated film called "Poop on a Stick" and it is already projected for a $60 million opening! This coming on the heel's of "Monsters Vs. Aliens" opening this weekend to an expected $58 million from 4,104 sites and a killer $14,181 average. The opening was no where near the last two "Shrek" films but on par with last year's Dreamworks offering "Kung FuPanda" which opened to $60 million last June. "Monsters" did play in around 2,000 3d theaters and with the elevated ticket prices a matching of "Panda's" haul was expected. But it is still a solid opening for the commercial juggernaut.

The real surprise of the weekend came at the number two spot where the Virginia Madsen starring "The Haunting in Connecticut" scared up $23.1 million from 2,732 sites for a very strong 8,422 average. The fright flick was projected to finish in the mid teens but made an almost 10 million dollar jump. The tally once again proves the allure of horror films released in the early months of the year.

This move was not unlike the one experienced by last week's number one film "Knowing." The Nicholas Cage thriller, which surprised insiders to lead the frame last week, held strong falling only 40 % to an estimated $14.7 million for a total cume of $46 million.

40% is a great hold for a science fiction film as they typically lose 50-60 percent of their audience but the true hold over of the week is the laugher "I Love You, Man" which lost only 29% of it's audience. It came in with a strong $12.6 million tally and a cume of $37 million. The Paul Rudd starring film should continue it's strong hold and be headed towards 60-80 million.

Rounding out the top five is the under performing "Duplicity" which fell by 45% to an estimated $7.5 million for a two week gross of $25 million.

Overall the Box Office was up a whopping 58 percent over a year ago when "21" led the box office with 24.1 million.

1	Monsters vs. Aliens	$ 58,200,000			4,104	1	$ 14,181	$ 58,200,000	Paramount
2	The Haunting in Connecticut	23,010,000			2,732	1	8,422	23,010,000	Lionsgate
3	Knowing	14,700,000	24,604,751	-40.3	3,337	2	4,405	46,215,000	Summit
4	I Love You, Man	12,600,000	17,810,270	-29.3	2,717	2	4,637	37,007,000	Paramount
5	Duplicity	7,556,000	13,965,110	-45.9	2,579	2	2,930	25,639,000	Universal
6	Race to Witch Mountain	5,637,000	12,786,041	-55.9	3,268	3	1,725	53,295,000	Buena Vista
7	12 Rounds	5,300,000			2,331	1	2,274	5,300,000	Fox
8	Watchmen	2,750,000	6,801,114	-59.6	2,010	4	1,368	103,291,000	Warner Bros.
9	Taken	2,700,000	4,057,695	-33.5	1,961	9	1,377	137,074,000	Fox
10	The Last House on the Left	2,611,000	5,776,160	-54.8	2,251	3	1,160	28,459,000	Universal