"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" overcame meh reviews to make a tidy little $57.4 million, with a surprisingly high $14.5K per theater. I say the trailer sold this sucker -- or, rather, the trailer's dazzling images of the Silver Surfer zipping around. Seriously, do you know anyone who was excited about Reed and Sue's wedding?
"Nancy Drew," by contrast, squeaked out a puny $2,731 per theater for an opening weekend total of $7.1 million, a clear sign the 70-year-old property has lost its grip on young girls. "Ocean's 13" and "Knocked Up" continued to do well in their second and third weeks, respectively; "Knocked Up" showed its legs with only a 26 percent drop. Compare that to "Hostel, Part II," whose bottom fell out to the tune of 63%. Sorry, Eli.
The Edith Piaf bio-pic "La Vie en Rose" contines to dominate the arthouses, going from 8 theaters to 78 and still pulling in an everage $8K per house for a two-week total of $2.8 million -- very impressive for a foreign language film. Quirky whatsit "Eagle Vs Shark" also played nicely at three theaters; it opens in Boston on Friday. Word is that it's "Napoleon Dynamite" for grown-ups. Wait, didn't we already have one of those: "Me and You and Everyone We Know"?
