Given the utter lack of options, moviegoers predictably stayed away from theaters this weekend. Sony’s male witch horror flick The Covenant topped out the box office with a mere $9 million dollars, according to early studio estimates. $9 million dollars. Jeez. You don’t have to be a numbers genius to realize that’s pretty freaking awful. But really, what can you expect from a film that has no stars, wasn’t screened for critics, and was ''directed'' by Renny ''Cutthroat Island'' Harlin — whose last film, 2005’s ludicrous Mindhunters, opened at $1.9 million and plateued at $4.5 million?
In fact, six of the weekend’s top ten films grossed less than $5 million each, bringing the combined total to a staggering…$49.7 million. Down 30 percent from last year, it’s Hollywood’s worst weekend since David Spade’s clunker Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star sat atop the chart with a $6.7 million No. 1 opening in September 2003. That’s gotta hurt.
Rounding out the new releases, Hollywoodland, the George Reeves whodunit starring Ben Affleck and Diane Lane, grossed a passable $6 million on 1,548 screens, and the Weinstein Co’s martial arts epic The Protector posted similar numbers, earning $5.0 million on 1,541 screens. Meanwhile, former two-week champ Invincible relinquished its top spot after dropping 50 percent. The feel-good sports drama now stands at $45.7 million.
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