Jack-in-the-Box Office for the weekend of March 12-14

In what was a disappointing weekend at the Box Office for films making their debut, “Alice in Wonderland” remained in the top spot by taking in another $62 million in its second week, which was the sixth-highest grossing second weekend of all time. Though the production budget for the film was a costly $200 million, that figure has now been eclipsed by the domestic total of $208 million and the worldwide total of $429 million.

In second place was Paul Greengrass’ political thriller “Green Zone” starring Matt Damon. The film opened with a disappointing $14.5 million, a fraction the film’s $100 million budget, as well as a fraction of the opening weekend grosses of the Jason Bourne films that Greengrass and Damon have made. While other outlets have labeled the film a box-office bomb, the worldwide total is already at $24.2 million and that figure could go up drastically as the film opens in more markets overseas. This could be a film to watch closely in the coming weeks, as there have been films lately that have been slow out of the gate that ended up making a worldwide profit (“The Lovely Bones”), and other films that never got close (“Nine”). Can Universal pull it off with “Green Zone”? The next few weeks will tell.

In third place was the opening weekend of the comedy “She’s Out of My League” starring Jay Baruchel. The opening weekend gross was $9.6 million, which pales in comparison to similar films such as “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up”. While figures for the worldwide gross or production budget were not available, the film was likely made for around $20 million, so the film’s ability to make a profit is basically a forgone conclusion.

In fourth place was “Remember Me,” the film that asked the question whether or not Robert Pattinson could have a massive opening weekend outside of the “Twilight” franchise. The answer was a resounding NO as the film made only $8.3 million domestically. Comparisons are already being made to when “Jennifer’s Body” had a similar opening weekend last fall and proved that Megan Fox alone couldn’t draw moviegoers to theaters opening weekend. Interestingly, both “Remember Me” and “Jennifer’s Body” had production budgets of $16 million. Fox’s film not only broke even domestically but had a worldwide gross of $31 million. “Remember Me” could easily end up doing as well if not better, so those on both sides of the R-Patz (as he is known by the so-called “Twi-Hards”) debate should keep on eye out for domestic and foreign totals in the coming weeks.

Rounding out the top five was the fourth weekend of “Shutter Island” which made another $8 million to bring its domestic total to $108 million and it’s worldwide total to $143 million. Domestically, “Shutter Island” is now the second-highest grossing film of Martin Scorsese’s career (behind Best Picture-winner “The Departed”) and the fourth-highest grossing film of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career.

In other opening weekend news, “Our Family Wedding” starring Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Regina King, and Taye Diggs made $7.6 million and played well in a smaller number of theaters. “The Exploding Girl” starring Zoe Kazan opened in one theater where it grossed $6,000 dollars. Based mainly on the intrigue of Zoe Kazan’s first starring role (after acclaimed character roles in films such as “Revolutionary Road,” “Me and Orson Welles,” and “It’s Complicated”) the film should easily make back it’s $40,000 budget.

What if anything drew you to the theater this weekend? Did you see “Alice in Wonderland” or “Shutter Island” for the first or second time, or did you check out one of the several films that made their debuts? Please let us know how you enjoyed it (and always, any Oscar potential you may see) and for all of us at Awards Circuit, we look forward to seeing you at the movies.