Box Office Report October 20th 2008

Dude here again. I couldn't quell the chihuahua uprising south of the border. Their numbers are just too plentiful. And I fear dogs. Especially when in large numbers. But I still have yet to return.

This weekend, the chihuahuas are knocked down a peg. But still prove more popular than the president of the U.S. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).

• Max Payne (Fox) - $18.0, 3376 screens, week 1, $18.0 total
• Beverly Hills Chihuahua (BV)- $11.2, 3239 screens, week 3, $69.0 total
• The Secret Life of Bees (FoxS) - $11.0, 1591 screens, week 1, $11.0 total
• W. (LGF) - $10.5, 2030 screens, week 1, $10.5 total
• Eagle Eye (Par/DW)- $7.3, 3326 screens, week 4, $81.3 total
• Body Of Lies (WB) - $6.8, 2714 screens, week 2, $24.4 total
• Quarantine (ScrGms) $6.3, 2463 screens, week 2, $24.6 total
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Sony) - $3.9, 2241 screens, week 3, $26.7 total
• Sex Drive (Sum) - $3.5, 2421 screens, week 1, $3.5 total
• Nights in Rodanthe (WB)- $2.6, 2115 screens, week 4, $36.8 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that lazy copy editors with their fingers squarely on the pulse of the zeitgeist will note that Mark Wahlberg will have "talked to the animals" in first place, and told them to say hello their mothers for him. Which is a fancy way of saying that Max Payne took first place. You know something? I have a good friend named Matt Payne. Where's his movie, huh Mark Wahlberg?

The Secret Life of Bees took in a lot of money. That's nice. But I thought this movie came out last year, with Jerry Seinfeld as the voice of the bee. Maybe I need to pay more attention to things. W. also opened up, which is not a sequel to Q. Instead it's a movie about the current U.S. President that nobody really likes. But the movie made a pretty impressive debut nonetheless.

And there was also a movie called Sex Drive that opened. It featured Amish jokes. I heard it was funny, but comedy and numbers often work inversely. I'm sure this film will find a huge audience and massive success when it's released on video. Which will probably be very soon the way turnaround goes these days.

There you have my amazing break down. Next week, it's time for another Saw movie!!! And there's something called High School Musical 3 which is something that makes a lot of young people really excited. I'm excited, because it's from the director of Newsies!

Hasta prÑximo fin de semana.......