"Real Steel" Edges "Footloose" at Box Office

The robots won over the dancers this weekend, but just barely.  Hugh Jackman and his fighting robot in “Real Steel” took the box office by storm this weekend, grossing $16.3 million and edging out “Footloose,” which grossed $16.1 million.  Not a huge weekend at the box office, but still a good showing by Craig Brewer's remake of the 80's cult classic.  "The Thing" finished a distant third.

Here’s how the rest of the weekend’s top movies did:
1. “Real Steel,” $16.3 million
2. “Footloose,” $16.1 million
3. “The Thing,” $8.7 million
4. “The Ides of March,” $7.5 million
5. “Dolphin Tale,” $6.3 million

"Horrible Bosses" isn't Horrible

In the hit new film comedy "Horrible Bosses," an ex-Lehman Brothers executive who is jobless and desperate for money offers sexual favors to some old buddies in return for cash.

While that may seem a little out of place, the director of "Hollywood Bosses" sees many more such jokes and plots in films, given the currently weak economy.

Director Seth Gordon said his movie, about three old friends who feel stuck in their jobs so they plot to kill their mean bosses, reflected real people's struggles to change jobs.

"You are going to see a bunch of movies that are themed in this way about people that are stuck in some way and want to restart and possibly can't. I think that premise is something that is really relatable right now," Gordon said.

"Horrible Bosses," stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis as three average Americans being bullied by their bosses -- one played by Jennifer Aniston in her raunchiest role yet as an oversexed dentist -- who want to move up the ladder but can't. Its big-name supporting cast includes Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell.

"We needed to put a fine point on the fact that these guys didn't have other options," said Gordon, adding that without plotting to go as far as kill their bosses, many real Americans could relate to feeling stuck in their current job.

The main characters are in their thirties, they have taken a job or a series of jobs and they have ended up in a place that in the current economy is relatively fragile," said the director, whose career has included directing episodes of hit TV series, "The Office."

Apart from a wacky turn by Farrell playing a sleazy, cocaine addicted womanizer, Jennifer Aniston is likely to capture the most attention as a sexually aggressive dentist who hits on her subordinate, played by Day, because it plays against her all-American, good girl image, and boy does it.

Aniston said her racy role, in which she relentlessly sexually harasses Day, "was incredibly fun to play, especially since it's the kind of role that a guy would normally play."

The screenwriters said they had her in mind when they wrote the role. "Isn't that incredible?" Aniston said. "I love a man with an imagination."

Should be a big weekend at the box office for "Horrible Bosses."

Harry Potter's Weekend Take: $330 Million

 "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," cast a spell in more than 50 countries and collected $330 million in global ticket sales.

The tally includes a best-ever U.S. and Canadian debut of $125.1 million in this latest adventure of the teenage sorcerer and his friends at Hogwarts school. Six previous "Potter" films collected $5.4 billion globally for the Warner Bros studio.

In the United States and Canada, last week's champ, comedy "Megamind," came in a distant second with $16.2 million, just ahead of runaway train flick "Unstoppable" with $13.1 million. But given the popularity of the "Potter" movies, the other movies had not been expected to be much competition for No. 1.

The $125.1 million for "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" beat the previous best weekend debut for a "Potter" film in the United States and Canada, which was $102.7 million for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" in November 2005.

The movie, which is based on the final installment of the series of best-selling books by author J.K. Rowling, collected more than $30,000 per theater in just over 4,100 U.S. and Canadian venues. By contrast, "Megamind" took in $4,300 per location in nearly 3,800 theaters.

The movie played in some 54 overseas countries with highlights being 17.5 million pounds ($28 million) in the United Kingdom and A$15 million ($14 million) in Australia.

'Paranormal Activity 2' Scares its Way to #1 at the Box Office

The news is good for Paranormal Activity 2 as it entered theaters at the top of this weekend's box office. The highly-anticipated follow-up to the low-budget 2007 horror smash stuck to the practical effects and improvisational style of its predecessor. The movie continues the series' tradition of pulling in major bucks as well, making $41.5 million since landing in theaters Friday.  Not too shabby for a film that only cost $3 million to make.

The combination of being released in close proximity to Halloween and the lack of good horror flicks recently had to propel Paranormal 2 to the top. 

It also set the record for the largest three-day opening for a horror film, creeping past Friday the 13th‘s $40.6 million tally from last year. Although Paranormal 2 dropped 35 percent from Friday to Saturday, the haunted-house flick got enough people to storm out of their homes and into movie theaters for a whopping $20.1 million on Friday (including $6.3 million from Thursday midnight showings). The movie also easily surpassed its predecessor’s wide-release opening of $21.1 million.

According to Paramount, 61 percent of the audience was less than 25 years old, that usually means success for a horror movie.  How lonf until we see Paranormal 3?

'The Social Network' Remains #1

Showing that its buzz wasn't short-lived, Facebook movie "The Social Network" topped the box office for the second weekend in a row, with ticket sales down a small 31% from its debut at $15.5 million, according to an estimate from distributor Sony Pictures.

It was a slow weekend at the movies.  With nothing new generating enthusiasm, it was a slow overall weekend at movie theaters. Total receipts were down 15% from the weekend before Columbus Day last year, according to Hollywood.com.

College football games and baseball playoffs may have been factors. But it was also true that none of the new films caught on with young audiences, which often drive big box-office receipts. Instead, "Life As We Know It" and "Secretariat" competed for the adult female demographic, which are historically tougher to attract.

Ticket sales for "The Social Network" dropped only 31% this weekend. That was the second-lowest second weekend drop for any movie in wide release this year, behind "The Tooth Fairy."

Demonstrating that good word of mouth wasn't an isolated phenomenon, "Social Network" enjoyed minimal drops throughout the country, including smaller markets such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where receipts were off only 19%.

Combined with healthy weekday grosses, the movie's total take is now $46.1 million. "The Social Network" is now almost certain to be a financial winner for Sony and its co-financier Relativity Media, which spent just under $40 million on production.