With a Little "Help"

It feels like the current cinematic conversation is all centered around The Help, myself included, but when there's little to pay much attention too, and a film comes around that stirs and plucks at the heartstrings, it gets some notice.  The notice now for the film, in its second weekend, must adhere to its telling and great standing at the box office.  In week two the ensemble dramedy about the relationships between white women and their black housekeepers in early 60s early Jackson, Mississippi is doing what an awards season hopeful should: attracting crowds, generating strong word of month and keeping itself in conversation.  The rest of this weekends returns are blah to say the least.

1. The Help- Breaking the trend of a film opening at number two in its first weekend, only to rebound to the top spot in weekend number two, The Help dropped a scant 21% and made $20 million for a total gross of $71 million so far.
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes- Still holding strong in weekend number three, Caesar and his grand rebellion roused an addition $16 million, down 44% for a total gross so far of $133 million.
3. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World- Despite what the title suggests, the fourth film in the Spy Kids franchise likely won't have all the time in the world in theaters (presented in 4-D whatever-ness) as it earned $12 million in its opening weekend.  The last Spy Kids movie opened seven years ago, and perhaps its audience has merely just moved, a thought that distributor Dimension Films, perhaps should have learned from their spring disappointment Scream 4.
4. Conan the Barbarian- Nobody cared about this remake either, as the Schwarzenegger-less swords and sandals trash only earned $10 million in its first weekend.
5. The Smurfs- In its fourth weekend, it's made $117 million so far...how does everyone feel about this?  I hope American audiences think long and hard about the hard-earned dollars spent on The Smurfs...
6. Fright Night- The other 80s remake that opened this weekend earned even less- $8 million...it's kind of sad (well perhaps only for studio execs) that three films opened this weekend, all of which presented in 3-D only to be crushed by a 2-D message drama starring a bunch of girl...I, on the other hand, am quite pleased.
7. Final Destination 5- Already forgotten, in weekend two the film has made $32 million.
8. 30 Minutes or Less- In its second weekend out, the Jesse Eisenberg comedy earned $6 million for a total gross of $25 million so far...good news (for Jesse at least), the stoner pic was made for cheap-- now let's urge him to reunite with David Fincher pronto.
9. One Day- The poorly reviewed romantic pic starring Anne Hatheway and Jim Sturges opened to an anemic $5 million.
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love- What do you know- the top ten is outlined with two movies featuring Emma Stone.  The ensemble romantic comedy will leave the top ten next week, but is doing solid, if unspectacular business...$5 million in its fourth weekend for a total gross of $64 million is none to shabby.

Other notables:

• The Holocaust drama Sarah's Key is doing sturdy business in the art house sector, teetering in the top twenty, the Weinstein Company distributed, Kristin Scott Thomas starrer has earned a solid $3 million in five weeks in release.
• Midnight in Paris has finally crossed the $50 million barrier, making it the highest grossing (unadjusted for inflation) Woody Allen film at the domestic box office ever...Sony Pictures Classics must be feeling mighty bullish about its awards chances.
• The Devil's Double, the aggressive Middle Eastern Scarface is continuing to deliver modest returns-- in it's first month of release, the Dominic Cooper-headline feature crossed the $1 million mark.
• Red State, Kevin Smith's latest made a killing for its one-week, awards qualifying run at the New Beverly in Los Angeles, earning an screen average of $25,000.  That figure is slightly skewed as it was a higher admission ticket, on the the account that Smith stuck around for Q&As at the most screenings.  Looking forward to this however, hopefully it gets a real release.