Box Office Update 2/2-2/4: The Messengers Have Something to Tell You

Two new movies debuted in this freshman frame of February, and both of them can be found atop the weekends top box office draws. Whether or not they deserve to be in that position is debateable, but they are there. The best that I can say about their ascension is at least it knocked Epic Movie down a few pegs. That one doesn't deserve to even be rated, but what can I do? Someone's buying tickets.

The Pang brothers, Danny and Oxide, English language debut made its way to the top. The PG-13 rated creep out, The Messengers, was the biggest draw of a Superbowl weakened weekend. It is a film that is not without a few genuinely creepy scenes and an interesting premise, yet it never comes together all that well in the execution. Following that is the latest Diane Keaton comedy. She plays the matriarch in Because I Said So, a romantic comedy about a mother's love and finding the right person. I enjoyed it, it is definitely to the fluffier side, but I laughed.

There are a couple of films that have been showing great legs and tenacity in hanging onto their audience. Night at the Museum has only slipped to fourth place, it sailed past $200 million a couple of weeks ago and continues to go strong. The other is the Will Smith drama The Pursuit of Happyness. That one features Smith's finest performance, and is just a heartwarming story.

Among the remaining returning films are a trio of Oscar nominees. Dreamgirls continues to lure people in, Pan's Labyrinth is still enthralling audiences, and The Queen has Helen Mirren on display. All three of these films are definitely worth spending some time with, Pan's Labyrinth in particular.

Two films dropped from the list this week: Catch and Release (11) and The Hitcher (19).

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	N	The Messengers	$14,713,321	$14,713,321	1
2	N	Because I Said So	$13,122,865	$13,122,865	1
3	1	Epic Movie	$8,411,993	$29,555,556	2
4	3	Night at the Museum	$6,385,843	$225,001,335	7
5	2	Smokin' Aces	$6,113,345	$24,744,300	2
6	4	Stomp the Yard	$4,055,791	$55,857,184	4
7	6	Dreamgirls	$4,000,521	$92,748,249	8
8	8	Pan's Labyrinth	$3,682,699	$21,715,849	6
9	7	The Pursuit of Happyness	$2,966,454	$157,217,102	8
10	9	The Queen	$2,650,134	$45,461,958	19

Box Office Predictions Recap
Well, I was able to play it close, save for my overestimation of Catch and Release in its second week of release. I bid way over in a few cases, I forgot to factor in the effect of the Superbowl broadcast.

Anyway, here is how I picked the field:

Actual	Prediction	Title	Wknd Gross	Prediction
2	1	Because I Said So	$13,122,865	$19 million
1	2	The Messengers	$14,713,321	$15 million
4	3	Night at the Museum	$6,385,843	$8 million
3	4	Epic Movie	$8,411,993	$7.5 million
5	5	Smokin' Aces	$6,113,345	$7 million
11	6	Catch and Release	$2,576,948	$4 million
6	7	Stomp the Yard	$4,055,791	$3.5 million
7	8	Dreamgirls	$4,000,521	$3 million
8	9	Pan's Labyrinth	$3,682,699	$3 million
9	10	Pursuit of Happyness	$2,966,454	$2.5 million