Thursday’s Academy Award nominations lifted "Slumdog Millionaire" this weekend; the film racked up $10.6 million in ticket sales as it moved into an additional 829 theaters. Meanwhile, that comedy about a dumpy security guard continued its rampage at the box office: Sony’s "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" brought in $21.5 million in its second weekend in theaters for a total of $64.8 million, according to Media By Numbers.
Sony’s third installment of the werewolf-vampire love tale "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" pulled in $20.7 million. The franchise’s first film debuted in 2003 with $21.8 million and had a first-weekend take of $26.9 million in 2006.
Paramount’s "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" — which swept the Oscar nominations with 13 nods — added a mere $6 million to its $111 million total, while Universal’s "Frost/Nixon" climbed 351%. But even six Oscar nominations couldn’t help the sagging "Doubt," whose ticket sales fell 31% to $852,000 in its seventh week.
Ticket sales were up 13.8% this week as compared with last year, and attendance was boosted 20.9%.
| Rank | Name | Weeks | Gross | Per Screen Avg. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) | 2 | $21.5m | $6,838 | $64.8m |
| 2 | Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Screen Gems) | 1 | $20.7m | $7,036 | $20.7m |
| 3 | Gran Torino (Warner Bros.) | 7 | $16.0m | $5,255 | $97.6m |
| 4 | Hotel for Dogs (Paramount/DreamWorks) | 2 | $12.4m | $3,779 | $37.0m |
| 5 | Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) | 11 | $10.6m | $7,477 | $55.9m |
| 6 | My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) | 2 | $10.1m | $3,966 | $37.7m |
| 7 | Inkheart (Warner Bros.) | 1 | $7.7m | $2,910 | $7.7m |
| 8 | Bride Wars (Fox) | 3 | $7.0m | $2,671 | $48.7m |
| 9 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) | 5 | $6.0m | $2,651 | $111.0m |
| 10 | Notorious (Fox Searchlight) | 2 | $5.7m | $3,473 | $31.8m |
