Weekend Update (9-16, 9-17, 9-18)

[4Chancey]

Here's your movies weekend update: three movies opened wide, all of them falling below or way below expectations, but one that was re-released scored at almost twice as much as expected, making eyebrows raise for studios, already planning for September releases next year no doubt. The Lion King returned to the box office and lead with an impressive $29.2 million dollars, becoming the fifth highest September weekend (1st being Sweet Home Alabama) and being the first film re-released to top the box office in nearly a decade and a half (the last being the re-issue of Return of the Jedi). Including the previous gross, the film has achieved an impressive $357.8 million dollars, the third highest grossing animated film of all time (the first being Toy Story 3). Contagion dwindled a litte, dropping from first to second, but still keeping $14.5 million dollars, and a two-week total of $44.2 million. As expected, Drive opened at number three, but with $11 million, and not the $13 million anticipated. The Help remained in the top five, scoring a still impressive $6.4 million dollars. The total is $147.4 million dollars, and all for a budget of $25 million. Straw Dogs did place fifth, but with $5 million, not $7 million. And finally, I Don't Know How she Does It opened at a weak $4.5 million, with originally $8 million in mind. This definately shows that star-power is everything in September, and with last week's number one Contagion having all main cast members being nominated for an award (or winning) at some point in their careers, and Ryan Gosling is a hot new star, enabling Drive to stoop above the $10 million dollar mark. The other big thing this weekend: The Emmys. Main winners: Best Comedy: Modern Family. Best Drama: Mad Men. Best Actress Comedy: Kate Winslet. Best Actor Comedy: Guy Pearce. Best Actress Drama: Julianna Margulies. Best Actor Drama: Kyle Chandler. And a couple surprises for presenters as well: Alec Baldwin, originally to present, walked out when his big joke about Rupert Murdock was canned, and Charlie Sheen presented, looking more normal (?) by the minute. We shall see Alec Baldwin and Charlie Sheen on Comedy Central soon. The Roast of Charlie Sheen is tonight and 30 Rock will be premiring soon. That does it for the weekend update.