That’s not to say there are no good movies made anymore  (The Blind Side is a recent example). Even when movies are bad, we expect them to be bad because of a poor script, poor directing or poor acting – or a combination of all three. What we are sick and tired of are movies with a “message” that Hollywoodists deem acceptable, wrapped up in the guise of innocent entertainment. And we are even more sick and tired of those movies being aimed at our children.

Take Furry Vengeance. Please. Ba dum bum. Coming out on April 30, this “family film” follows the adventures of Dan Sanders (Brendan Fraser), along with his wife Terry (Brooke Shields) and son Tyler (Matt Prokop), whom Dan has temporarily moved from Chicago to Oregon to oversee the building of a housing development in Rocky Springs.

Note: The final product may differ from the script – in fact, I saw a few things in the trailer that weren’t in the original script. Another example is that the script says Tyler Sanders is 10 years old, but the actor portraying him is much older. Yet I highly doubt the main message is much different than what I saw on paper.

Dan’s a confident businessman who’s more concerned with the bottom line than ethics or saving the wilderness, as evidenced by his importing lumber from Canada in order to save money AND get around Orgeon’s stringent environmental laws, as well as his willingness to cut down a protected tree and have a beaver dam dismantled in order to keep construction on budget and on time.

Of course, Dan enjoys watching Fox News. (And that’s not the only leftist sucker punch – more to come.)

But a team of cute little CGI animals, led by a raccoon, have other ideas. In their quest to halt the project, they begin by making Dan late for an important meeting with his boss by stealing his breakfast and trashing his car. When he refuses to stop his activities, they begin sabotaging the construction equipment and attacking Dan’s person in the way of spraying him with the lawn sprinkler (potty humor alert!) and eau de skunk.

Without reciting everything in the film, naturally after going through hell and back and being considered crazy by his family and coworkers (who, of course, don’t see what the animals are doing to him), Dan sees the error of his ways, stands up to his greedy boss, and in the end he and his family live in happy harmony with their little woodland neighbors.

Certainly I’m all for balance between nature and man. I don’t want everything paved over. But by portraying businessmen and developers as cartoonish thugs with no redeeming characteristics, what kind of message are kids supposed to take away from this movie? That people are inherently bad because they build houses and shopping centers and buy things? What about those kids who have parents who work in the construction or lumber industries? Will they see their mommies and daddies as horrible meanies who take over the homes of cute little furry things?

I have a few questions for the filmmakers:

• After Dan stands up to his boss and the construction is halted, how does he make money? I’m assuming that he no longer works for Neal Lyman (Ken Jeong), who is last seen being pursued into the forest by a mob of angry forest creatures. Does Dan now sponge off his wife, who has magically been promoted to principal at the local school?
• What about the men who have been put out of work once the construction is halted? Do they live in the local community? Are they now on unemployment? What about their families and their needs, or can they just go pound sand?
• Speaking of the community, the development was supposed to include a shopping center which, one assumes, would have provided jobs. Is providing jobs a bad thing? (Seeing as our real-life Dear Leader is still touting a “jobless recovery,” I guess so.)
• Will there be the usual kiddie movie toy tie-ins at fast food restaurants, along with other Furry Vengeance goodies like lunch boxes and video games and the inevitable DVD release? Because according to a fellow liberal, making “Stuff” is bad for the earth and stuff.
• How much energy was used in the production of this film, from filming to editing the final product? Did you know that using energy is “bad?” Shame on you!
• Seeing as you portray Dan’s boss as a greedy corporate type who can’t get enough money, will you be forgoing profit on this movie and allowing patrons to see it for free?

The film does have one saving grace – it mocks the idea of the faux “green” movement that has sprung up just about everywhere you look, with entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on people’s consciences – which have been burdened by nearly 40 years of leftist prattle about how we are killing the earth. Not that I am trying to crush the entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country great, but it’s a bit wearying to see so many products touted as “green” when a lot of it is just a bunch of malarkey.

By the way, the movie comes out just one week after Earth Day. Coincidence? Maybe. I just can’t help being cynical.

Still, it’s not enough to salvage the film for me, especially since this “family film” has more swearing in it than I’d feel comfortable having small children hear (unless it’s been deleted from the final version – but I’m not holding my breath). And there’s a sequence where Dan accidentally kills a frog when showing his city-bred son how to skip rocks on the water. I’m praying that bit got cut – nothing like having the kids see a cute little frog bite the bullet.

Oh, and those other leftist sucker punches I told you about? A gratuitous shot at “No Child Left Behind” (one of GWB’s initiatives when in office); Dan being tortured by the pecking of a crow on the bedroom window in a sequence he describes like being in Abu Ghraib; and at the very end, Al Gore’s name being trotted out as the final authority on whether the ground upon which the development being built is protected. No matter that Gore and his global warming baloney has been thoroughly discredited; he’s obviously still a Hollywood Hero. He has an Oscar to prove it! Will all of these sucker punches make the final cut? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one or two of them.

By the way, Brendan Fraser, the film’s star, is also one of the executive producers. According to this source, he used to live on Readcrest Drive in Beverly Hills. Take a look and ask yourself: Does his (former) large home scream “concern for the environment?” And the entire neighborhood is full of large, lavish homes that cling to the hillside of what I’m sure used to be home to lots of cute little critters like the ones we see in Furry Vengeance. I’ve mentioned before that the entertainment industry is one of the biggest polluters around, so it’s really galling for them to preach to us and to our children about defiling the earth. But that’s how it is with liberals – as long as they have theirs, they can tell you what you can do with yours.

Final analysis: I’m glad my kids are too old to want to see this waste of celluloid.

—–

YouTube Description: In theatres April 2, 2010 FURRY VENGEANCE is a live action family comedy in which an ambitious young real estate developer, Dan Sanders, faces off with a band of angry animals when his new housing subdivision pushes too far into a pristine part of the wilderness.

“Measures” follows the true story of John Crowley, a pharmaceuticals executive who has three children – one who is healthy but two suffering from the rare and fatal affliction called Pompe Disease, a very rare genetic disorder which causes a deficiency in the enzyme that breaks down glycogen, causing muscle weakness throughout the body while enlarging the heart and other vital organs. 

The average lifespan of a person with Pompe is just nine years, a fact that drives Crowley to an obsessive quest for the cure since his afflicted children are 6 and 8 years old. The best doctor in the country devoted to finding a cure is  Robert Stonehill (Ford), a research scientist at the University of Nebraska who’s constantly hampered by a severe lack of funding and a bad attitude. 

When Crowley travels from his home in Portland, Oregon to Nebraska to force a meeting with Stonehill, he is so desperate that he creates a Pompe-fighting foundation out of thin air and promises the researcher the $500,000 he needs to bring a prospective cure to medical trials. Forging an agreement, the film then follows the pair’s constant dancing on the financial and medical precipice as they face one challenge after another to raise the funds and beat the clock on Crowley’s childrens’ lives. 

This may sound intriguing enough, but unfortunately the well-intentioned “Measures” maintains the same bland tone throughout. The utterly average script by Robert Nelson Jacobs (“Chocolat”) and largely uninspired direction by Tom Vaughn (“What Happens in Vegas”) makes the proceedings feel like a disease-of-the-week TV movie, a staple of television schedules that mercifully faded away in the 1990s. What’s ironic about that is the fact that the film is being released as the debut feature from the new company CBS Films, an offshoot of the CBS television network that ran the majority of those films, rounding out Sunday nights after “Murder She Wrote” with two hours of sentimental searching by doctors. 

It’s simply too difficult to make the research against an obscure disease work as compelling cinema, and the film errs further with its very limited locations and  numerous fade outs from daytime to night and back again as they work around the clock. That’s a shame, because Ford brings a fun feistiness to the screen as the eccentric curmudgeon Stonehill, who drives his fellow scientists nuts by blasting classic rock through the laboratories at all hours of the night. 

Fraser gets an all-too-rare chance to show his own strong dramatic chops, effectively conveying the sadness and desperation of a father whose children are slipping away before his eyes while also having to put on a bravely smiling front for them. Here’s hoping that he’ll get another vehicle in which his gifts can be put to more challenging use than running from an army of zombie skeletons and the corpses of ancient Egyptian kings. 

Aside from another winning performance by Keri Russell (whose performance in 2008’s “Waitress” was one of the past decade’s most vibrant) as Crowley’s wife, the rest of the cast’s performances run the gamut from wooden to schmaltzy. Its adorable child actors and solid moral and ethical values (the film thankfully doesn’t jam in a plea for universal health care, nor any cry out for stem cell or other controversial research) may provide a passable day at the movies for families, but anyone else – and even those families – may need life support to prevent them from dying from boredom.

The result is a well-reviewed (56% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) action film that will help to satisfy blockbuster-hungry audiences waiting for Warner Bros’ Watchmen (due March 6). Taken has scored big on its opening weekend. After grabbing an estimated $9.4M, the movie surged on Saturday to $11.62M (up almost 24% from opening day) and, despite today’s Super Bowl, the film could reach $24.62M according to studio estimates. That will be more than enough to win the Super Bowl 3-day, and positive word-of-mouth could get this one into the $70M-$75M range domestic.

Prolific French filmmaker Luc Besson

Taken re-teams French action maestro Besson with director Morel, who previously worked together on the brilliant District B13 ($411K opening – $1.2M in the US – $6.9M in France). For the prolific Besson, this movie marks the all-time best US opening for one of his films.

ALL-TIME BEST DOMESTIC OPENINGS FOR LUC BESSON FILMS
- as producer, writer and/or director -
1. Taken (producer/writer) – $24.62M opening (projected)
2. The Fifth Element (writer/director) – $17M opening – $63.8M domestic
3. Transporter 2 (producer/writer) – $16.5M opening – $43M domestic
4. Kiss of the Dragon (producer/writer) – $13.3M opening – $36.8M domestic
5. Transporter 3 (producer/writer) – $12M opening – $31.7M domestic
6. The Transporter (producer/writer) – $9.1M opening – $25.2M domestic
7. Point of No Return (writer) – $7.1M opening – $30M domestic
8. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (producer/writer/director) – $6.3M opening – $14.2M domestic
9. The Professional (producer/writer/director) – $5.3M opening – $19.5M domestic
10. Arthur & the Invisibles (producer/writer/director) – $4.3M opening – $15.1M domestic

Besson has a tremendous international following, and Taken was already a hit before it ever opened in the US. The movie has already been released in many overseas territories, generating $68.8M in 2008. That includes $11.2M in the UK and $9.4M in France. With international numbers like that, it’s not a huge surprise that the picture is working so well in the states.

The irrepressible Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) is headed for a #2 finish for the weekend. The Adam Sandler-produced comedy sold another $4.2M in tickets on its third Friday, and Kevin James has ridden that dopey Segway to another strong 3-day of about $14M. By Monday morning, PB:MC will have banked a stellar $83M.

Poster for the 1998 Japanese film Ringu

In 1998, Hollywood discovered a Japanese film called Ringu, and they have been remaking Asian horror films ever since. Director Gore Verbinski turned the get-under-your-skin creepy Ringu into an American version called, simply, The Ring, and that 2002 movie starring Naomi Watts grossed a spectacular $129M.

The latest Asian horror adaptation is The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount), based on the 2003 South Korean thriller Janghwa, Hongryeon (released in the US as A Tale of Two Sisters). The movie was a sensation in Korea where it remains the all-time highest-grossing horror film, and now Elizabeth Banks (W.) and David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck) headline the American version. After grabbing a decent $4.3M to start the weekend, The Uninvited got a 9% Saturday bump, and it will likely finish the weekend in third-place with $10.51M.

That is slightly disappointing given the performance of some other recent Asian horror remakes. (Note these are all based on Japanese films with The Uninvited being the first South Korean adaptation.)

2002 – The Ring – $15M opening – $129.1M cume
2004 – The Grudge – $39.1M opening – $110.3M cume
2005 – The Ring Two – $35M opening – $76.2M cume
2005 – Dark Water – $9.9M opening – $25.4M cume
2006 – The Grudge 2 – $20.8M opening – $39.1M cume
2006 – Pulse – $8.2M opening – $20.2M cume
2008 – One Missed Call – $12.5M opening – $26.9M cume
2008 – The Eye – $12.4M opening – $31.4M cume
2009 – The Uninvited – $10.51M opening (projected)

In final studio estimates, Hotel for Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) has managed a surprise fourth-place finish with $8.7M for a new cume of $48.2M. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl has pushed Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino (Warner Bros) to #5 with $8.6M. Walt Kowalski has now growled his way to an amazing $110.5M cume.

Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) has received a nice boost from and its 10 Oscar nominations, adding another $7.58M. This micro-budgeted movie ($14M) which almost went straight to video when Warner bros didn’t quite know what to do wth it has grossed a staggering $67M. Also this weekend, director Danny Boyle has won the ultimate Oscar bellweather, the DGA award, and that may seal the deal for Best Picture and Best Director at the upcoming Academy Awards.

The other new wide release is the horribly-reviewed New In Town (Lionsgate), starring Academy Award winner Renee Zellweger. The romantic comedy that makes sport of small town America opened soft, but it could have been worse. The movie coaxed about $2.4M on Friday (#7 for the day), and Lionsgate says the movie will finish the weekend with $6.75M, enough for eighth place. That number marks only the eighth-best opening of Zellweger’s career.

ALL-TIME BEST RENEE ZELLWEGER OPENINGS
- non-animated –
1. Me, Myself & Irene – $24.2M opening
2, Cinderella Man – $18.3M opening
3. Jerry Maguire – $17M opening
4. Cold Mountain – $14.5M opening
5. Leatherheads – $12.6M opening
6. Bridget Jones’s Diary – $10.7M opening
7. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason – $8.6M opening
8. The Bachelor – $7.4M opening
9. Nurse Betty – $7.1M opening
10. New In Town -$6.75M opening (projected)

There is not much of an Oscar bounce for the current crop of Best Picture nominees. Stephen Daldry’s The Reader (Weinstein) and Milk (Focus) starring Sean Penn are the last two of the big five to go wide, and neither film has scored big.

David Kross and Kate Winslet in The Reader

The Reader, which has Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress: Kate Winslet, Best Director: Daldry, Best Adapted Screenplay: David Hare and Best Cinematography, expanded to 1,002 locations on Friday and could only muster $700,000. That should project to about $2.37M or so for the 3-day and a new cume of $12.64M.

Meanwhile, the Gus Van Sant-directed Milk, which some pundits believe may be peaking with Academy voters at just the right time, will not be a box office juggernaut. Despite 8 Oscar nominations, Milk managed only a $471 Per Theatre Average on Friday on 882 screens. The first wide weekend for the Harvey Milk biopic will likely yield only $1.41M for a new domestic cume of $23.41M.

Golden Globe winner Sean Penn as slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk

In all, the five Best Picture nominees, now all in wide release, have combined for less than $17M for the weekend. By Monday, the five movies contending for Hollywood’s biggest prize have a combined total domestic gross of just $234M. I am projecting that Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader will finish with a total of about $285M in US ticket sales, which would be the second-worst total of the last 15 years.

For example last year, the five Best Picture nominees grossed a combined $357M, so the 2009 crop will be down a full 20% from 2008. Snubbing movies like The Dark Knight and Gran Torino, Academy voters have narrowed the field to what amounts to a very expensive arthouse movie (Benjamin Button), a surprise crowd-pleaser (Slumdog Millionaire) and three niche art titles with very specific audiences (Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader). When the ratings for the Oscar telecast are dismal, the Academy will have its own voters to blame.

The worst combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees in the last 15 years was in 2005 when Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night & Good Luck and Munich generated $245M at the box office. That resulted in the all-time third-worst television rating for the Academy Awards broadcast.

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Taken (Fox) – $9.4M, $2,953 PTA, $9.4M cume
2. NEW – The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $4.3M, $1,834 PTA, $4.3M cume
3. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) – $4.2M, $1,310 PTA, $73.57M cume
4. Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – $2.6M, $862 PTA, $104.54M cume
5. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony) – $2.55M, $867 PTA, $28.13M cume
6. NEW – New in Town (Lionsgate) – $2.4M, $1,236 PTA, $2.4M cume
7. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $2.3M, $1,630 PTA, $61.86M cume
8. Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $2M, $633 PTA, $41.52M cume
9. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) – $1.5M, $1,067 PTA, $41.84M cume
10. Bride Wars (Fox) – $1.25M, $630 PTA, $51.61M cume
11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – $1.1M, $517 PTA, $114.02M cume
12. Inkheart (Warner Bros) – $975,000, $367 PTA, $10.06M cume
13. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $850,000, $789 PTA, $14.22M
14. Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – $775,000, $466 PTA, $21.07M cume
15. The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – $730,000, $1,011 PTA, $11.46M cume
16. The Reader (Weinstein) – $700,000, $699 PTA, $10.97M cume
17. Notorious (Fox Searchlight) – $590,000, $546 PTA, $33.9M cume
18. Frost/Nixon (Universal) – $425,000, $385 PTA, $13.33M cume
19. Milk (Focus Features) – $415,000, $471 PTA, $22.39M cume

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY 3-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Taken (Fox) – $24.62M, $7,736 PTA, $24.62M cume
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) – $14M, $4,367 PTA, $83.37M cume
3. NEW – The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $10.51M, $4,485 PTA, $10.51M cume
4. Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $8.7M, $3,160 PTA, $48.22M cume
5. Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – $8.6M, $2,852 PTA, $110.54M cume
6. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $7.68M, $4,703 PTA, $67.24M cume
7. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony) – $7.2M, $2,447 PTA, $32.78M cume
8. NEW – New in Town (Lionsgate) – $6.75M, $3,478 PTA, $6.75M cume
9. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) – $4.26M, $3,030 PTA, $44.6M cume
10. Inkheart (Warner Bros) – $3.7M, $1,394 PTA, $12.79M cume
11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – $3.61M, $1,698 PTA, $116.54M cume
12. Bride Wars (Fox) – $3.57M, $1,798 PTA, $53.93M cume
13. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $2.65M, $2,469 PTA, $16.03M
14. Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – $2.53M, $1,524 PTA, $22.83M cume
15. The Reader (Weinstein) – $2.37M, $2,369 PTA, $12.64M cume
16. The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – $2.35M, $3,255 PTA, $13.08M cume
17. Notorious (Fox Searchlight) – $1.7M, $1,574 PTA, $35M cume
18. Milk (Focus) – $1.41M, $1,603 PTA, $23.41M cume
19. Frost/Nixon (Universal) – $1.39M, $1,265 PTA, $14.31M cume

The Adam Sandler-produced comedy has broadened its audience, showing real family appeal. That led to stronger Saturday and Sunday matinees for a stellar $21.5M by Monday morning. That gives the movie a 10-day cume of just shy of $65M, which is impressive considering that it was budgeted at just $26M. After success as a supporting star in movies like Hitch ($179.5M cume) and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry ($120M cume), it appears that James can open a movie without the help of Will Smith and Adam Sandler. Mall Cop dipped only 32% from last Friday-thru-Sunday (and that was part of a 4-day weekend, which can often lead to a sharper drop).

My Friday night projection column had Underworld: Rise of the Lycans as the #1 movie with $19.75M, and the picture actually improved on that number, finishing with an estimated $20.7M. The Patrick Tatopolous-directed prequel starring Michael Sheen (currently seen as David Frost in Best Picture nominee Frost/Nixon), but the movie finished with less than the original 2003 Underworld ($21.75M) and Underworld: Evolution’s $26.85M in 2006.

The missing ingredient would seem to be the very sexy Kate Beckinsale, who starred in the first two movies in skintight leather. Rise of the Lycans cost about $35M to make, so this picture will make money for Sony. The picture skewed very male (only 41% of the audience was female), but the surprise is that it also drew an older audience. In fact, only 45% of ticket-buyers were under 25.

Oscar voters were not friendly to Clint Eastwood this week. After scoring surprise nominations (Letters From Iwo Jima) and wins (Million Dollar Baby) in recent years, the screen icon was completely shut out on Thursday. No Best Actor nod for Gran Torino (Warner Bros). No Best Director nomination for either of his two well-received 2008 movies Gran Torino or Changeling. No nominations for composing the scores for either of those movies. Clint didn’t even receive a Best Original Song nomination for the haunting and heartfelt theme song from Gran Torino that he co-wrote with son Kyle and jazz vocalist Jamie Cullum.

Instead of an Oscar, Eastwood will settle for a blockbuster hit. Gran Torino, in which he plays a bigoted Korean War veteran who befriends a Hmong boy in a rough Detroit neighborhood, scored another $16M, down only 27% from the MLK 3-day. The micro-budgeted movie by a first-time screenwriter has now grossed a staggering $97.57M, and, sometime on Wednesday, it will surpass In the Line of Fire’s $102.3M, becoming Eastwood’s al-time #1 grossing movie.

The fourth-place finisher for the frame is the live action dog movie Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount), which fetched about $12.36M for a new 19-day cume of almost $37M.

Meanwhile, 10 Academy Award nominations have propelled Slumdog Millionaire to a wildly successful expansion. Widening to 1,411 playdates, Fox Searchlight has perfectly calibrated the platform release and coaxed a terrific $10.55M. It’s hard to believe that after being developed by the now-defunct Warner Independent Pictures, this $14M indie almost wound up going straight-to-video. Now Danny Boyle’s life-affirming masterpiece will have grossed almost $56M by Monday, and Slumdog will be selling a lot more tickets between now and Oscar day.

The other major studio release is Inkheart, which is the product of New Line (absorbed last year by Warner Bros). Based on a novel by Cornelia Funke and starring Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci Code) and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, this Narnia-wannabe never really had much of a chance. With tepid reviews (36% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and very low awareness according to pre-release industry tracking, Inkheart only mustered about $7.72M for the weekend, finishing a disappointing #7.

The most-nominated film of the year got a boost as well as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) managed another $1.6M to start the 3-day, which translated to another top ten finish with a $6M weekend take (ninth for the 3-day). With nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor: Brad Pitt, Best Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson, Best Director: David Fincher, Best Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat among others, Ben Button has a new domestic gross of $111M.

Three other Oscar nominated films got their post-nomination expansions. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) was crushed by Thursday’s Oscar announcement, but still managed to do some decent business. Dreamworks was clearly banking on a nomination for Best Actress for Kate Winslet and an outside shot at a Best Picture nom, but the Sam Mendes-directed movie settled for nods for Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design: Albert Wolsky. Rolling out on 1,058 screens, the dark, domestic drama sold a respectable $5.26M in tickets over the 3-day for a $4,979 Per Theatre Average.

Mickey Rourke’s career-resurrecting performance in The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) grabbed an approximate $6,500 PTA for the weekend. With a more limited 566 playdates, the Darren Aronofsky-directed gem corralled about $3.7M for a new cume of $9.5M. The picture could get another boost if Rourke manages to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.

Finally, Best Picture nominee Frost/Nixon (Universal) has failed to ignite much interest despite 5 Academy Award nominations. Co-starring the aforementioned Michael Sheen, the Ron Howard-directed film has expanded to 1,100 locations, but it managed only a disappointing $3.02M for the weekend for a new cume of just $12M.

FINAL STUDIO ESTIMATES
1. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) – $21.5M, $$6,838 PTA, $64.8M cume
2. NEW – Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony) – $20.7M, $7,036 PTA, $20.7M cume
3. Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – $16M, $5,255, $97.57M cume
4. Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $12.36M, $3,779 PTA, $36.95M cume
5. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $10.55M, $7,477 PTA, $55.91M cume
6. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) – $10.05M, $3,966 PTA, $37.72M cume
7. NEW – Inkheart (Warner Bros) – $7.72M, $2,910 PTA, $7.72M cume
8. Bride Wars (Fox) – $7M, $2,671 PTA, $48.7M cume
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – $6M, $2,651 PTA, $111M cume
10. Notorious (Fox Searchlight) – $5.7M, $3,473 PTA, $31.79M cume
11. Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – $5.43M, $3,030 PTA, $18.32M cume
12. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $5.26M, $4,979 PTA, $11.86M
*The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – $3.9M, $6,890 PTA, $9.71M cume
*Frost/Nixon (Universal) – $3.24M, $2,948 PTA, $12.22M cume

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter.