'Alice in Wonderland' holds top spot at box office

(News Terupdate) - "Alice in Wonderland" proved this frame that it's no one-weekend phenomenon. The Tim Burton-Johnny Depp collaboration had audiences coming back for more. After holding extremely well throughout the week, the Disney film dropped a scant 47 percent its second weekend in theaters for an additional $62 million. It's 10-day total now adds up to $208 million--besting 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to become Burton's highest grossing film. A good 13 percent of its dollars came from its IMAX 3-D screens.

Alice's release far outshone any of the newcomers, with Matt Damon's "Green Zone" being the best performer of the bunch. Despite coming from Bourne director Paul Greengrass, this Iraq war drama didn't connect with audiences anywhere near as well as the duo's previous collaborations. The Universal film cost $100 million and only opened to $14.5 million, a gross below even the studio's modest expectations going into the weekend.

"She's Out of My League" nabbed the third spot for the frame, with a better-than-expected Saturday that gave the R-rated comedy a $9.6 million opener.

The Rob Pattinson starrer "Remember Me" bowed in fourth place for the frame with an $8.2 million take. The inexpensive film shouldn't cause Summit Entertainment much grief, but it is clear that the girl power that adores Pattinson-as-Edward Cullen chose to sit this dour drama out.

Paramount's "Shutter Island" rounded out the top five. The Leonardo DiCaprio-starring thriller added another $8 million to its cume, putting the film's total take at $109 million.

Fox Searchlight's "Our Family Wedding" opened in the sixth slot for the weekend, grossing $7.6 million.

And "Avatar," clearly at the end of its box office run, is still holding in theaters in a big way. The movie only dropped 19 percent despite being in a fraction of 3-D screens compared to pre-"Alice in Wonderland" time. Adding another $6.6 million to its cume, the film's enormous domestic take now stands at $730 million.

Overture Film's R-rated cop drama "Brooklyn's Finest" dropped like rock in its second weekend. The film, starring Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke, fell an astounding 68 percent, to gross only $4.2 million. Its two-week gross stands at a paltry $21 million.

Spots nine and 10 went to "Cop Out" and "The Crazies." The two R-rated films grossed $4.2 and $3.6 million, respectively.

The theatrical movie business was on the rise for its third weekend in a row, thanks largely to Alice and audiences' obsession with 3-D fare. The next few weeks will bring a crush of 3-D product, from "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Clash of the Titans," which is sure to complicate the marketplace since there's already a shortage of 3-D screens.

Still, we will likely see strong box office numbers throughout April. Happy movie going!

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