Box Office - Max Brings the 'Payne'

Max Payne did the job it was supposed to do: It won the weekend box office by a wide margin. But there was a hangover for Payne, like there was for a couple other new releases, because Friday was by far its best performance.According to Box Office Mojo, Payne made just over $7 million on Friday and wound up with a weekend total of $18 million. Not bad, but based on the way weekends normally go, the audience for the Mark Wahlberg video game adaptation slid downhill on Saturday and particularly on Sunday. The political biopic W. also began the weekend in robust fashion, but was crawling to the finish line. Friday's numbers would have led you to believe W. could have made $12 million or more this weekend, but the totals on Saturday and Sunday indicate that there was initial curiosity about this film that has already subsided.In a way, the big winner was Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which most analysts thought would drop below Payne, W. and The Secret Life of Bees, but it found a groove and repeated as the number two film of the weekend.On the independent front, both Happy-Go-Lucky and Rachel Getting Married, movies powered by potential Best Actress performances, were the top two finishers when you consider the ever-important per-screen average. Both films will expand over the next few weeks and positive reviews and building word-of-mouth should help them stay in theaters through the holidays.The Top Five: 1 - Max Payne ($18 million)
2 - Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($11.2 million)
3 - The Secret Life of Bees ($11 million)
4 - W. ($10.5 million)
5 - Eagle Eye ($7.3 million)