A sequel to the smash hit Japanese horror remake of 2004 must’ve seemed like a no-brainer to the executives at Sony. Find another attractive girl (Amber Tamblyn), hire the spooky children with dark hair, chain director Takashi Shimizu to his director’s chair for his 3,000 outing on a Grudge movie (okay, more like fifth, but still…) and watch the money come a-rolling in. Nice idea, but while The Grudge 2 did make the top of the box office, it’s hardly the mega-hit follow-up anyone was expecting. A $22 million estimated opening is okay, but compared to the first film’s $39.5 start, it’s tough not to paint it as a disappointment.
And there were few real success stories to be found among the openers this weekend, as Barry Levinson’s Man Of The Year arrived softly in third with $12.5 million and action thriller The Marine, designed to showcase WWE wrestling star John Cena opened looking wounded, making just $7 million despite launching in a solid number of cinemas.
In fact, the only film that could really be considered a decent opening is the out-of-nowhere independently funded Biblical pic One Night With The King. Somebody’s prayers have been answered as the niche movie made $4.3 million – and that’s in just 908 cinemas, compared to The Marine’s 2,545.
And so to the rest of this week’s top 10, with some returns holding up well - Open Season is still dragging in the kids, making $11 million this week for fourth place, while The Departed is going gangbusters with $18.7 million in its second week, taking second place and earning $56.6 million so far.
But the rest? Mostly dropping – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel plummeted 58% in its second weekend, landing at fifth, while The Guardian fell to seventh with $5.8 million and Dane Cook’s Employee Of The Month also suffering a second week slump, down to eighth place with $5.6 million.
Finally, sitting, er, pretty at 10th is Jackass Number Two, which is now ahead of the first movie’s box office gross, having made $68.4 million. We expect Steve-O and co are celebrating with a tall glass of bull’s semen.
True horror can only be found in the place we call… The Charts!
1
**The Grudge 2
** $22,000,000
$22,000,000
1
2
**The Departed
** $18,675,000
$56,625,000
2
3
**Man Of The Year
**
$12,550,000
$12,550,000
1
4
**Open Season
**
$11,000,000
$59,154,000
3
5
**The Texas Chainsaw Msaasacre: Beginning
**
$7,750,000
$30,457,000
2
6
**The Marine
**
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
1
7
**The Guardian
**
$5,853,000
$41,119,000
3
8
**Employee Of The Month
**
$5,600,000
$19,910,000
2
9
One Night With The King
$4,326,000
$4,326,000
1
10
**Jackass Number Two
**
$3,334,000
$68,383,000
4