Weekend Wrap-Up: "The Help" unfazed by Hurricane Irene

Zoe Saldana is ruthless in "Colombiana," but no match for
"The Help" and Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane Irene created havoc in the box-office this weekend with combined domestic grosses totaling a measly $91.0 million, as most theaters on the East Coast closed down. The only movie not to suffer was The Help, which grossed $14.3 million, down just 28.4% from last weekend, now tallying a 19-day gross of $96.6 million, no doubt “helped” by terrific word of mouth.

Zoe Saldana’s latest vehicle Colombiana was the strongest new release and grossed $10.3 million on 2,900 screens at 2,614 locations. This is an improvement on Saldana’s latest action role in comic-book adaptation The Losers, which only grossed $9.4 million during its first weekend. Distributor Sony Pictures' exit reported that, unusually, 57% of the audience was female while 65% was age 25 years and older.

Written and produced by Guillermo del Toro, the R-rated horror movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark took third place with a disappointing $8.6 million at 2,760 single-screen locations. This poor result is in direct contrast with FilmDistrict's previous release Insidious, which grossed  $13.3 million in its opening week. I would personally blame the poor casting: Katie Holmes was great in Dawson’s Creek but in a supernatural thriller? I don’t think so. 

The weekend's last new release, Our Idiot Brother, rounded out the top five with $6.5 million at 2,555 single-screen locations. Distributor, The Weinstein Company, reported that 55% of the audience was female and 70% 25 years and older. The R-rated comedy suffered from tepid reviews despite picking up some nice online buzz in the last week or so, mostly about the onscreen lesbian relationship between Zooey Deschanel and Rashida Jones.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes ranked fourth with $8.6 million, and its total climbed to $148.5 million in 22 days, despite a 46% drop from last week-end. This is the science-fiction reboot’s fourth week in the top 5 and it’s managing to hold up very nicely thanks to good word of mouth and mostly positive reviews.

To get ready for Labor Day weekend movies are being released earlier during the week. Wednesday sees the opening of Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, a biopic of legendary sleazeball/musical genius Serge Gainsbourg, and The Debt, an espionage thriller starring British ice queen Helen Mirren. On Thursday, we are being treated to strange and gory happenings in space with Apollo 18, a slew of 3-D gigantic great white sharks devouring attractive young things in a Louisiana lake (yeah, right…) in Shark Night 3D, and Jason Sudeikis and Lake Bell try their hand at A Good Old Fashioned Orgy in the Hamptons.

Box Office Top Ten (August 26 - August 28):

1. The Help (MRQE Metric: 72) -- $14.3 million
2. Colombiana (MRQE Metric: 72) -- $10.3 million
3. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (MRQE Metric: 72) -- $8.68 million
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (MRQE Metric: 73) -- $8.65 million
5. Our Idiot Brother (MRQE Metric: 73) -- $6.5 million
6. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (MRQE Metric: 49) -- $5.7 million
7. The Smurfs (MRQE Metric: 49) -- $4.8 million
8. Conan the Barbarian  (MRQE Metric: 39) -- $3.1 million
9. Fright Night (MRQE Metric: 65) -- $3 million
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love (MRQE Metric: 68) -- $2.9 million