Weekend B.O.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

October 10–12, 2008 (thanks sergio!)

1) Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV $17,511,000 Total: $52,541,000

2) Quarantine SGem $14,200,000

3) Body of LiesWB $13,120,000

4) Eagle Eye P/DW $11,015,000 Total: $70,551,000

5) Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Sony $6,500,000 Total: $20,810,000

6) The Express Uni. $4,731,000

7) Nights in Rodanthe WB $4,610,000 Total: $32,366,000

8) Appaloosa WB $3,340,000 Total: $10,886,000

9) The Duchess ParV $3,322,000 Total: $5,620,000

10) City of Ember Fox $3,200,000

11) Fireproof Gold. $3,189,000 Total: $16,924,000

12) Lakeview Terrace SGem $2,650,000 Total: $36,197,000

From IW: The Ernie Davis Story aka "The Express" at 4 million. Wow. But you know good and well thick-headed Hollywood won't get the message for the 20th time that no one is checking for this ish. One reader, "anonymous" (sorry) sums it up well:

"Now it's Louis Armstrong. I swear, this shit never ends. Black actors always have to play real people in order to land a meaty script (and an Oscar nod), because nobody will write them a comparable part based in fiction. And it's not only our entertainers who've led cinematic lives, either. This overused source material only reinforces our place in society - we have no substantive contributions to make besides those of our singers and point guards. What about films concerning Frederick Douglas, James Baldwin, Mae Jemison, Mandela, etc.?"

I cosign (even tho I think there was a Mandela movie with Sidney Poitier if I'm not mistaken; too lazy to look it up right now). I have said several times that if someone can't come with an original idea for Black Cinema, there is plenty of source material out there. Plenty. I would also love to see a film about Frederick Douglas, or James Baldwin, or Harriet Tubman, or countless others that are not sports or "feel-good" related. Who do we have to f*ck to get a movie like that made? jeesh.

"Nights In Rodanthe", George C. Wolfe's film (he directed Lackawanna Blues, btw) while not a blockbuster, has done a respectable 32 million, considering the source material. This amount, however, is not respectable for the Kerry Washington/Samuel Jackson vehicle "Lakeview Terrace" with it's head throbbing ad campaign and 1000's of theatres only topping out at about 36 million. That probably paid for Samuel's salary and the catering.

On another note, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" is doing gangbusters; even Invisible Poppy (my father) saw it. I would have thought "Blindness" would do a bit better, but since it's been called a brilliant political allegory I guess I'm not surprised America has little interest. :-( Does the fact that "The Duchess" made only 5 million in 2 weeks mean that Keira Knightley's bony ass will finally go away? One can only hope....