April 15, 2008

Prom Night Remake Is Frighteningly Popular, Stripping Street Kings Of Box-Office Crown

By Shawn Adler (MTV.com)

The Box-Office Top Five
#1 Prom Night ($22.7 million)
#2 Street Kings ($12 million)
#3 21 ($11 million)
#4 Nim's Island ($9 million)
#5 Leatherheads ($6.2 million)

Forget Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers. For a whole legion of high school students nationwide, the thing most feared, apparently, is picking out a nice dress (low-cut and slutty, of course) and finding a boy that like-likes you. For legions of movie fans, it's horror retreads and PG-13 slashers.

The two fears dovetailed nicely this past weekend as Prom Night surprised prognosticators with a tally of $22.7 million, claiming the top spot at the box office in its debut weekend. The Brittany Snow starrer centers on a sadistic killer stalking a high school's big dance. It's the eighth-biggest opening for a horror remake in history.

Street Kings, meanwhile, probably wants to destroy the evidence of its $12 million opening weekend and distant second-place finish. Perhaps next time they'll grab some real dirty cops instead of Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker and Chris Evans. After all, there is something to be said for "creative" bookkeeping.

Like a blackjack player riding a hot streak, 21 continued its impressive run with a third-place finish and another $11 million. Starring Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey and Jim Sturgess, the movie about a bunch of sophisticated card counters fell only 28 percent in its third weekend for an overall total of more than $62.3 million.

Rounding out the top five were Jodie Foster's Nim's Island with $9 million and George Clooney's Leatherheads with $6.2 million. Their overall totals stand at $25.3 and $21.9 million, respectively.

Among other new releases, Smart People starring Juno actress and recent Oscar nominee Ellen Page was good enough for $4.2 million and a seventh-place finish. In limited release, The Visitor earned $88,000 in four theaters.