Box Office Update: "Help", I Need Somebody!

If I had some sort of foresight on the box office of this weekend, I'd have taken the time out of my weekend to see "Fright Night". It is unfair that that should hit below $10 million. That being said, I still won't see it, if only because I'd rather see something great instead of something merely adequate. Hell, I'm even shelling out some pity for "One Day", which maybe received too much of a critical bashing. I think people were pissed it wasn't the second coming of "An Education", and they immediately wrote it off. I certainly did, without seeing it. I doubt I'd like it too well, but I'm not a huge fan of romances.

On to the real winner of the weekend, "The Help" came out on top, having only dipped % from last weekend. I guess I was right to assume that people would flock to it. It's an extremely likable film. I could see it going on to surpass "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" at this point. The science fiction reboot isn't declining massively, but at a steady pace of which you could expect. It certainly has more staying power than some other notable blockbusters. As for the other new releases I don't really care about, obviously they were the bigger successes. "Spy Kids 4" proved most successful, a horrific crime against nature in my opinion, with "Conan" just behind it.

Of course, what could you have expected with August beginning to draw to a close. There's always been that expectation of something lesser as the most successful part of the year closes out. Next week's slate does have its work cut out for it, as there was a slight resurgence at the end of last summer with "Takers" and "The Last Exorcism". I suppose that "Columbiana", "Our Idiot Brother", and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" are somewhat up to the task. They're covering the market pretty well.

1. "The Help" (Second Weekend; $20.5 million)

2. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (Third Weekend; $16.3 million)

3. "Spy Kids 4" (First Weekend; $12 million)

4. "Conan" (First Weekend; $10 million)

5. "The Smurfs" (Fourth Weekend; $8 million)

6. "Fright Night" (First Weekend; $7.9 million)

7. "Final Destination 5" (Second Weekend; $7.7 million)

8. "30 Minutes or Less" (Second Weekend; $6.3 million)

9. "One Day" (First Weekend; $5.1 million)

10. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" (Fourth Weekend; $4.9 million)