Shutter Island Fends Off Cop Out and The Crazies

Despite winter storms in some areas of the country keeping people home the top five movies accounted for over $80 million. For the second straight weekend Shutter Island topped the box office. Falling a reasonable 45% from its massive opening last weekend it was able to pull in $22.2 million. The movie has already made back its budget which was a relatively modest $75 million in just 10 days. The openings for Cop Out and The Crazies were solid but unspectacular.

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan provided director Kevin Smith with his biggest gross ever drawing $18.6 million for Cop Out. Despite terrible reviews it was an appealing option with a lack of comedies out and the star power. The moviegoers have been more receptive to it than the reviewers giving it decent scores on sites such as IMDB and Yahoo Movies. It doesn’t have a lot of long term potential and won’t thrive off word of mouth but it also doesn’t appear it will see drops in coming weeks like those of Valentine’s Day or The Wolfman either.

The remake of the 1973 George A. Romera film The Crazies opened above most expectations with $16.5 million. Good reviews and a subject matter that tends to consistently draw out crowds helped as the film didn’t have any big names involved. Movies such as this tend to fall off quicker than others but having the support from reviews and good word of mouth could soften the blow. Regardless, with a budget of just $20 million, it’s already viewed as a big success.

Meanwhile Avatar just continues to astonish as it has surpassed the $700 million mark domestically. The question now is how much further can it go. Alice in Wonderland opens next week and will be taking many of the 3D screens it has owned since December. Winning Best Picture at the Oscars would also provide it another boost with many surely to wanting to catch the film in theaters one last time before it makes its way to DVD late this year.

1- Shutter Island $22.2 ($75.1)
2- Cop Out $18.6 (OPEN)
3- The Crazies $16.5 (OPEN)
4- Avatar $14.0 ($706.9)
5- Percy Jackson $9.8 ($71.2)
6- Valentine’s Day $9.5 ($100.3)
7- Dear John $5.0 ($72.6)
8- The Wolfman $4.1 ($57.2)
9- The Tooth Fairy $3.5 ($53.9)
10- Crazy Heart $2.5 ($25.1)