Weekend Top 10 Roundup: Slasher Flick Prom Night Rules Weekend Box Office!

Prom night is one event that the whole of America identifies with. And when you have a slasher movie with the name Prom Night, with a psychopath on the loose terrorizing a young girl, audiences come to watch despite knowing the movie is a rehash of an earlier 1980s avatar.

The original 1980s Prom Night had Jamie Lee Curtis playing Donna, while the new version has Brittany Show in the same role. Opening this weekend, the ‘remade’ Prom Night went straight to the top of the box office, leapfrogging over Street Kings, a crime thriller, and the topper from the previous two weekends, 21.

Prom Night grossed $22.7 million at the box office this weekend, way ahead of Street Kings, which was second with $12 million and 21, which third to third spot this week with $11 million.

In Prom Night, Brittany plays Dona, a young girl who loses her entire family three years back to a stalker. Now, the stalker has come back, on prom night, to complete the unfinished job and take her life as well. The basic premise of the movie is as simple as that. However, a good storyline and great marketing contributed to its box office success.

Prom Night’s journey to the top spot was sudden and of course, unexpected. Critics had not even bothered to comment too much about the movie earlier, and it still made it to the top, which proves something I have been always saying, good marketing strategy wins any day over critics’ viewpoint!

The #2 placed Street Kings, from Twentieth Century Fox, is a crime thriller featuring Keanu Reeves as a tough cop, Tom Ludlow, who ruthlessly goes after the thugs from the street and also fights his own demons. The movie is directed by David Ayer, who was the co-producer and writer of the Denzel Washington starrer Training Day.

Third placed 21 features Kevin Spacey as a math professor from MIT, Micky Rosa, who teaches a group of students how to change the odds in blackjack. Nim’s Island, featuring Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin and 2-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster came in fourth with weekend earnings of $9 million.

Leatherheads, the sports comedy directed by and featuring George Clooney, fell two places from last week’s opening slot of #3 and is now at fifth place with $6.2 million. Occupying sixth place with $6 million was Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! This movie has set a record with earnings of $139, 628, 000 since its debut just 29 days back.

Placed seventh was Smart People with weekend earnings of $4.2 million, while The Ruins with $3.35 million, Superhero Movie with $3.11 million, and Drillbit Taylor with $2.07 million brought up the rear, occupying the eighth, ninth, and tenth slots respectively.