Variety reports the top movies, in terms of box office take, for the week of 14-20 August 2009. Peter Jackson’s new alien-cum-social-commentary film District 9 opened at the top of the charts, grossing $54.6 million. The aliens pushed GI Joe from #1 to #2, where it took in $31.8 million, for a two-week total of $108.0 million. The sf/drama The Time Traveler’s Wife opened in the #3 spot, earning $27.4 million. G-Force was pushed down from #3 to #5, bringing in $11.0 million, for a four-week total of $103.1 million. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince also fell, from #4 to #7, garnering $8.0 million, for a five-week total of $286.8 million. Hayao Miyazaki’s new film Ponyo (which opened last year in Japan under the title Gake no ue no Ponyo) opened in the US at the #9 spot, earning $5.7 million.
Aliens in the Attic fell hard #8 to #15, grabbing $2.4 million, for a three-week total of $21.5 million. The Orphan also fell, from #10 to #16, grossing $2.4 million, for a four-week total of $39.1 million. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen fell from #13 to #17, grabbing another $2.3 million, for an eight-week total of $397.5 million. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs fell from #14 to #18, bringing in $2.1 million, for a seven-week total of $191.6 million. Up slipped from #18 to #22, taking in $700 thousand, for a twelve-week total of $288.5 million. Night at the Museum: Battle Smithsonian fell from #19 to #23, grossing $625 thousand, for a thirteen-week total of $175.8 million.
The Collector, last week’s #16, fell all the way out of the top 25 in its third week in release. Star Trek, last week’s #21, fell out of the top 25 in its fifteenth week in release.
SFScope reviews of movies mentioned in this article:
Young Wizards in Love—a review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Michael A. Burstein
Breaking the Tie: One More Review of Star Trek by Shane Tourtellotte
Star Trek: I may be the only one who had trouble with the movie, but man… by Ian Randal Strock
The Future Returns—a review of Star Trek by Michael A. Burstein