Weekend Box Office | featured news

"The Help" remained Hollywood's top draw with $14.3 million on a slow late-summer weekend whose business was even more sluggish as many East Coast theaters closed to ride out the storm there....

This is a story about 'The Worst Movie EVER!' and its unprecedented $11 opening weekend. They only sold one ticket, and nobody seems to know who bought that ticket.

“The Help” continues to clean up at the box office, taking over the No. 1 spot with $20.5 million in its second weekend. The drama about Southern black maids had debuted in second-place a week earlier. “The Help” raised its domestic total to $71.8 million and bumped “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which slipped to No. 2 with $16.3 million after two weekends at the top.

Rebellious apes have held off Southern maids for a narrow win at the weekend box office. Studio estimates Sunday pegged “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” at $27.5 million, good enough for its second-straight No. 1 finish. The movie raised its 10-day total to $104.9 million. The “Planet of the Apes” prequel came in just ahead of “The Help,” a drama about Mississippi maids during the civil-rights movement that debuted at No. 2 with $25.5 million. “The Help” has taken in $35.4 million since opening Wednesday.

Domestic box office took a few unexpected turns this weekend (i.e. DreamWorks' standout crowdpleaser "The Help," with $25.5 million), while the B.O.'s reigning champ "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" not surprisingly held on to the top spot, grossing a solid $27.5 million in its second frame for a domestic cume approaching $105 million.

Now here’s some monkey business that everyone in Hollywood will take seriously! Rise of the Planet of the Apes conquered the box office with a tremendous $54 million in its debut weekend. The $90 million Fox reboot/prequel exceeded all expectations and churned out the fifth-best August opening of all time. And it did it all without any of that pesky 3D!

Little blue Smurfs and not-so-little green men from space are in a photo finish for the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office. According to studio estimates Sunday, Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford’s sci-fi Western “Cowboys & Aliens” and the animated family adventure “The Smurfs” both opened with $36.2 million. That leaves Sony’s “Smurfs” and Universal’s “Cowboys & Aliens” tied for the top spot. Actual weekend rankings won’t be sorted out until final numbers are counted Monday.

In a battle of summer movie heroes, Captain America topped Harry Potter this weekend at the box office. Paramount Pictures' "Captain America: The First Avenger" opened at No. 1 with $65.8 million, according to Sunday studio estimates. The Marvel Comics superhero adventure sets up next summer's all-star blockbuster "The Avengers."

The Dark Knight is dead. Long live the Batman. Since 2008, the Christopher Nolan film featuring posthumous Oscar winner Heath Ledger had held the single-weekend record for domestic box office. “The Dark Knight’s” $158.4-million take topped “Spider-Man 3’s” $151.1-million a year earlier. Now, the Boy Wizard has left both superheroes in the Floo-powder dust.

Pixar’s “Cars 2” overcame surprisingly negative critical reviews to overperform at the weekend box office, selling an estimated $68 million at North American theaters. That No. 1 finish extends Pixar’s perfect box-office track record — all 12 of its feature films have opened in first place. How sales hold up, however, will be watched carefully. “Cars 2,” directed by John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Pixar, represents an end to the studio’s perfect critical track record; only about 34 percent of reviews were positive, according to RottenTomatoes.com, by far the worst for any Pixar title.