'Help' moves upstairs with $20.5M, No. 1 weekend : LOS ANGELES (AP) - In the "Help" will continue to clean up at the ticket office, taking over No. 1 position in its $ 20.5 million second weekend. DreamWorks Pictures film starring Viola Davis, Emma Stone, and Octavia Spencer drama southern black maids had made his debut in the second place a week earlier. "Help", raised the domestic total of $ 71.8 million, and crashed into the 20th Century Fox's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," which slipped in and the No. 2 with $ 16.3 million after two weekends at the top, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes," remains solid hit, lifting the domestic total of $ 133.8 million.
As much as Kathryn Stockett's novel the "Help" came through the best-selling book readers talk about it, the film is holding strong as the audiences tell your friends to go see it, said Dave Hollis director of distribution for Disney, which released DreamWorks movies.
Although sales often drop 50 percent or more on the second weekend of big studio movies, receipts for the "Help" fell by only 21 percent of opening weekend.
"It is a rare feat to see the movie will not open on No. 1 and then become No. 1," Hollis said. "For me it is an indication of the great movie, word of mouth and viral nature of it."
Rush of new movies had weak openings: Weinstein Co., the family sequel "Spy Kids: All the time in the world" at No. 3 for $ 12 million, Lions Gate operating a remake of "Conan the Barbarian," in issue 4 $ 10 million DreamWorks, Disney horror-comedy remake of "Fright Night "at No. 5 with $ 8.3 million, and Focus Features' literary adaptation" One Day "at No. 9 with $ 5.1 million.
Overall, domestic revenues slipped for the first time in five weekends. Receipts totaling $ 124 million, down 3 percent from the same weekend last year, when the "Expendables" LED $ 17 million according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.Other than the "Fright Night," the new films were panned by critics and the public apathetic about all newcomers.
"This is the reason for term dog days of August were invented," said analyst Paul Dergarabedian Hollywood.com. "Other than the" Help ", and to some extent," The Rise of Planet of the Apes, "everyone else got beat up this weekend. This was one of those really slow down, turn the film into theaters--Spirit-town on weekends."
Three new films - "Spy Kids,"''Conan the Barbarian "and" Fright Night "- was a benefit of more expensive 3-D screenings, but none were able to take advantage of.
Robert Rodriguez fourth, "Spy Kids," featuring Jessica Alba as an agent, a step-kids get involved in espionage activities, increased the smell of the image with scratch and sniff cards are handed out to viewers, so they could smell what the characters were smelling.
Trick is to pack the crowds, though, with sales coming up just under a third $ 33.4 million debut of last "Spy Kids" movie in 2003.
"Conan the Barbarian" stars Jason Momo as fierce a warrior played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980 original. "Fright Night" features Colin Farrell as a vampire going after your neighbor (Anton Yelchin), who discovers his blood-sucker.Based on David Nicholls' bestselling "One Day" cast Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as the decades-long friends, a romantic dance that plays on the same day every year.
Solid reviews, Disney executives thought, "Fright Night" would provide a good mix of scares and laughs for fans of the late teens and early 20s. But the distribution of the boss Hollis said, "Fright Night" was a question that has plagued the studios throughout the summer: How to bring out the younger crowds, when they have so much more personal entertainment options, from video games to download movies?
"What has happened here has been a problem in the industry for a long time, and it's just a way to crack the nut of young adults?"Hollis said. "They are more picky."
Estimated ticket sales Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, the latest international numbers are also included.Final domestic figures are released Monday.
1. "Help" 20500000 dollars.
2. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" 16300000 dollars.
3. "Spy Kids: All the time in the world," $ 12 million.
4. "Conan the Barbarian," $ 10 million.
5. "Fright Night," $ 8.3 million.
6. "Smurfs" 8000000 dollars ($ 35.3 million international).
7. "Final Destination 5," $ 7.7 million.
8. "30 minutes or less," $ 6.3 million.
9. "One day," $ 5.1 million.
10. "Crazy, Stupid, Love," $ 5,000,000.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice
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Universal and Focus' is owned by NBC Universal, the unit of Comcast Corp., Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp., Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc., Disney, Pixar, and Marvel is owned by The Walt Disney Co., Miramax owns Filmyard Holdings, LLC, 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight is owned by News Corp, Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc., MGM is owned by a group of former creditors, including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors, and Carl Icahn, Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp., owns Rogue Relativity Media, LLC.
