Box Office - 'Blind Side' Finally Wins Weekend

The terrific run for The Blind Side continued at the box office as it staked its first claim to number one in its third weekend of release. The film is another surprise hit for Warner Bros. (see The Hangover), and has already grossed $129 million, a tremendous number given that its opening weekend was under $35 million. It earned another $20 million this weekend to easily win the frame.

New Moon dropped to second place, earning $15.7 million, and its fortunes are about to stall in the US. However, with global ticket sales of over $570 million, more than ten times the production budget. As we discussed yesterday, only one movie that earned more than $100 million in its first weekend failed to hit $300 million. New Moon is now about $45 million away from that milestone, and it could get there, but it won't be by much. New releases were pretty uninspiring in their performances, with Brothers leading the way with only $9.7 million. Armored finished in sixth place, with a little over $6.5 million. Up in the Air, in very, very limited release, still earned $1.8 million, good enough for 13th place.

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Gyllenhaal, Portman, Maguire - New 'Brothers' Trailer

I would have thought Brothers would be in the conversation by now. You know the conversation, the end-of-the-year talk where movies come out of nowhere to gain the indie world's rapt attention. But so far, it's kind of flying under the radar.

Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and six-time Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan are a pretty good foursome. Seriously, Jim Sheridan has six Academy Award nominations, so maybe Brothers being under the radar is par for the course. (No more golf references, I promise.) The lone trouble spot - unless it's just terribly maudlin - is that this has a war undertone. That won't diminish the quality of the film, but it could stand in its way when it comes to finding an audience. There's a new version of the trailer, heavier on the Portman, methinks. The film will be in theaters on December 4th, so there's enough time to turn around its fortunes if it's as good as it certainly could be.

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Tobey Maguire Steals the Show in 'Brothers' Trailer

Jim Sheridan's Brothers kind of has a soap opera storyline - people coming back from the grave, dudes sleeping with their brother's wife - but it sure looks a hell of a lot better than a day in the life of Guiding Light.

The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, and Tobey Maguire, who has never looked more intense. Of course, part of his appeal is that he never looks all that intense, but that's changed here. He's downright scary. Sheridan, of course, can be a fantastic director, and he's only made one bad movie, really, the 50 Cent biography thing. I don't like the first minute of this trailer on its own, but it sets up a doozy of a second half. Check it out:

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