BOX OFFICE: Rehash Wins Box Office

SEBRING, Feb. 16, 2009 – Connosiuers of refried beans, left over, pulled out of the fridge, and microwaved, again and again, will appreciate the remake of Friday the 13th. That means it’s time to roll out the Latin.

“De gustibus non est disputandum.”

Producer Michael Bay rounded up the best looking bods teenagerdom offered, threw them into one contrived situation after another, and gouged, cut, spiked, and axed them up to the tune of  $42.2 million to make Friday the 13th the box office champ for the weekend of Feb. 12-15. It plays at the Regal Eagle Ridge and the Carmike.

But while Hollywood proved, at least for one weekend, that you can do the same thing over and over again, and not very well at that, articulate audiences still took to some of the other films out there.

Ticket sales for He’s Just Not That Into You dropped only 30 percent to help it to a second place finish with a gross of $19.6 million.

Even more impressive was Taken, the action thriller of a CIA dad out to get his daughter back from kidnapers in Europe. Its ticket sales declined by a mere 6 percent so that it grossed $19.25 million in its third week of release. Taken has grossed almost $78 million since its release and is a surefire bet to cross $125 million and possibly even $150 million – a  nice profit for the makers and good promotion for Liam Neeson, a fne actor whose talents have not always been used well.

Confessions of a Shopaholic finished 4th wtih $15.4 million and Coralie finished 5th with $15,3 million.

Once again, three of the Top Five films played at the Fairmount Cinema 6: He’s Just Not That Into You, Taken, and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop continues to impress. It hauled in $11.7 million this past weekend and has grossed more than $110 million since it debuted five weeks ago. It’s a huge winner for comic Kevin James. I would predict  sequel, but I see that comedian Seth Rogen has a nearly identical film coming out this year – a mall cop who comes to the rescue of a shopper and takes over the inveestigation into who attacked her. I think James is going to win this battle, but Rogen does appeal to those of a raunchier bent.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop plays at the Regal Eagle Ridge and the Carmike.

The International, with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, debuted modestly with $10 million. The Pink Panther 2 is a dud. Though its numbers did not drop much from Week One, it is in way more theaters so that its per theater average is the lowest of any film in the Top Ten. Gran Torino has a better per theater average and still hauled in $6.75 million in its 10th week of release – and it’s still playig at the Fairmount Cinema 6, so now is a good time to catch it.