Box Office - 'Obsessed' Goes for $28 Million

If nothing else, the last weekend before the summer movie season begins is kind of like Punxsatawney Phil: It shows us that audiences are more than willing to spend the money, even though the economy is down. A very consistent box office all year, which actually has been markedly improved over 2008, should be a strong bellwether for all those summer blockbuster with $200 and $300 million dreams. There's no quantifiable reason that Obsessed should make $28 million, although that's the estimate from Box Office Mojo. Beyonce isn't (or hasn't been) a major movie star, and Ali Larter isn't exactly Reese Witherspoon when it comes to opening weekends. That total is at least $10 million more than the film was expected to generate, and if they'll throw down an extra 35% on this movie, what does that mean for Wolverine or Transformers? The other new releases did fairly well, too, given their expectations. Fighting hit the mark at over $10 million, The Soloist made about $9 million, and I believe the Disney documentary, Earth, became just the second non-fiction film to ever debut in the top five. Of those, only The Soloist probably had a disappointing weekend, just because this film was once touted as an Oscar contender and after it got bumped to late April, is facing a rather anonymous $25 - $30 million box office ride. Depending on how it can weather the storm of giant movies in the next month, Monsters vs. Aliens could become a $200 million movie, but by the time it does, it might wind up there after Wolverine. Now, just because there are movies performing very well this year doesn't mean that there are no flops. Crank: High Voltage will most likely fall short of $20 million, Observe and Report might break even after all the advertising costs, and Duplicity is in the same boat. But the time to talk about movies losing money is over for a few months. The Top Five:
1 - Obsessed ($28 million)
2 - 17 Again ($11.7 million)
3 - Fighting ($11.4 million)
4 - The Soloist ($9.7 million)
5 - Earth ($8.5 million)