Weekend US box office report: Shutter Island tops Kevin Smith's best opening ever

While the box office is down compared to last week, that takes no shine off of Shutter Island's second weekend victory in a row. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio seem to work really well together, even if New Yorker Scorsese's newfound obsession with Boston is a little confusing. I found Shutter Island a little confusing, too, but in a good way. Enough audience returned this weekend to power the film to a first place, $22 million weekend, pushing back two game challengers in the form of Cop Out and The Crazies.

Falling into second place, a bit unexpectedly, is Cop Out. Kevin Smith's second movie not for the brothers Weinstein turns out to have netted Kevin his biggest opening by far. Cop Out managed $18.5 million this weekend, wildly successful by Kevin Smith standards. Even Zack And Miri Make A Porno, released in the height of Rogen fever, managed only $10 million or so. This'll definitely be the first Kevin Smith-directed product to break $31 million, which is kind of sad considering just how much good, funny work he's done. Not that Cop Out isn't funny. See my review for further commentary about that.

Landing in third place this weekend was The Crazies (reviewed here). The remake of a classic George Romero virus panic flick from 1973, The Crazies had a very strong $16.5 million debut weekend, based on the strength of a really good trailer. While the flick lacks star power (as much as I like Timothy Olyphant, he's not a huge star), that didn't stop people from coming in to see Breck Eisner's handiwork. This'll be a great little money-maker for Overture Films.

Speaking of money-making films, Avatar made a little money, didn't it? At last count, over $700 million in the US alone, thanks to another $14 million this weekend. Avatar continues to be a fixture in the top five at the box office, some 11 weeks after its debut. Wow, James Cameron. I will never doubt this guy's money-making instincts again.

Rounding out the top five this weekend is the gigantically-titled Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (which is a title almost as unwieldy as Precious: Based On The Novel "Push" By Sapphire). That's quite a mouthful, but in spite of the giant title the movie brought in another $9.8 million, barely topping Valentine's Day. The themed romantic comedy, featuring everyone in Hollywood, drops from second last weekend to sixth this week on $9.5 million. Still, VD managed to break $100 million, while Percy Jackson will be lucky to break even in the States (it has grossed $135 million internationally).

Dear John is a movie that needed no help breaking even; proving that releasing a romantic comedy around Valentine's Day is a great idea, Dear John has grossed a staggering $72 million in the US. This weekend it drops to seventh on $5 million or so, but that's not bad for a movie that's been out a month. Surely The Wolfman would love that performance. Wolfie dropped to eighth place this weekend on 4.123 million bones. The $150 million revitalization of the classic Universal monster property has stumbled at the box office, taking in only $57 million so far in the US. It has taken in more money overseas than it has in the US, but it's not the runaway hit you'd hope for when cashing in on a classic monster legacy.

Tooth Fairy looks to be on its way out of the top 10 at the box office, which ends an improbably successful run for Dwayne Johnson's latest kid-friendly comedy. It brought in $3.45 million this weekend, and has made $54 million or so during its US run. It's been one of the most weirdly profitable movies at the box office during its six-week run.

Rounding out the top 10 this weekend is Crazy Heart, which banked another $2.5 million this weekend and has taken in $25 million overall, based on the strength of Jeff Bridges' performance alone. It's nice to see him getting respect for the work, which is supposedly the best of his pretty stellar career.

Next week looks to be a one-note weekend. While there is going to be the release of Brooklyn's Finest, which reunited Ethan Hawke with Training Day directior Antoine Fuqua, the big news is going to be Alice In Wonderland. Apparently, Tim Burton's flick is the epicenter of a firestorm as movie theater chains and movie companies fight over the DVD release window. Will this hurt, or help, the film's box office? Come back next week and find out!