Scientists cautiously approached a screening of Four Christmases

The Day the Earth Stood Still took the top spot at the box office this weekend, earning $31 million, despite kinda sucking a lot. It’s not surprising considering it was the only film opening in wide release with any hype behind it.  Meanwhile, all the award-season films performed well in limited release.

The biggest winner among openers on a per-screen basis was Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino,” …which grossed $284,000 on six screens for an average of $47,333. Also opening strong were Miramax’s “Doubt,” with $525,000 on 15 screens, and IFC’s “Che” with $60,000 on two screens. …“Slumdog Millionaire,” $2.2 million on 169 screens; Focus’ “Milk,” $2.6 million on 328 screens; and Universal’s “Frost/Nixon,” $630,240 on 39 screens. [LA Times] (full top ten after the jump)

So basically, every awards-nominated movie got a tiny release while most of the country was stuck with f-cking Keanu Reeves.  Note to studio execs: if you ever want the film industry to become less of an insular circle jerk than it already is, STOP ASSUMING EVERYONE OUTSIDE OF NY AND LA IS AN IDIOT.  Making it hard to see the good shit doesn’t “build buzz”, it builds a negative attitude towards moviegoing in general.  Example? I tried to see Milk three times this weekend.  Every time it was sold out.  And I live in New York.  Next time I’ll probably just wonder if I should even bother.  Great marketing strategy.  Go F yourselves.

1. The Day the Earth Stood Still 31.0 million
2. Four Christmases 13.2 million
3. Twilight, 8.0 million
4. Bolt, 7.5 million
5. Australia, 4.2 million
6. Quantum of Solace, 3.8 million
7. Nothing Like the Holidays, 3.5 million
8. Madagascar, 3.2 million
9. Milk, 2.6 million
10. Transporter 3, 2.2 million