Jack-in-the-Box Office for the weekend of March 19-21

Film-goers went back to Wonderland this weekend as “Alice in Wonderland” grossed another $34.5 million dollars to take the top spot for the third weekend in a row. Not only has the film already made a sizable profit with a $565 million worldwide total, but the film has grossed $265 million domestically, overtaking “Batman” as Tim Burton’s highest-grossing film to date.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” debuted at second place with $21.8 million. Not only did this surpass the expectations Fox or anyone else had for the film, but now the movie which has no A-list stars attached has already turned a profit on its $15 million budget.

“The Bounty Hunter” came in below expectations at third place with $21 million. Though this was a disappointing opening for a romantic comedy starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston (“The Ugly Truth” and “The Break-Up” opened with $27 and $39 million respectively), the film should easily make a profit on its $40 million budget in the coming weeks once foreign grosses are factored in, to say nothing of DVD sales.

The $6 million opening of “Repo Men” was disappointing by any standard, including those that factor in the sci-fi genre (which frequently struggles at the Box Office) and star Jude Law (who sometimes struggles at the Box Office, depending on the movie). Yet unlike Law’s biggest flop “Alfie,” Repo Men still stands to be able to make a profit on its $32 million budget, once foreign grosses come in and DVD sales are tallied.

Rounding out the top, five “She’s Out of My League” took in another $6 million, so with the domestic total of $19.945 million dollars, the film is on the cusp of breaking even on its $20 million budget. Look for the film to turn a profit in the coming days.

In other opening news, while Robert Pattinson proved last week that he’s no Box-Office draw outside of the “Twilight” series, Kristen Stewart is making a similar statement this weekend as “The Runaways” opened with a respectable but not stellar gross of $803,000 in 244 theaters (that’s $3,291 per theater, finishing sixth in the per-theater average race). Stewart’s film will likely be like Pattinson’s, which will fail to dazzle at the Box Office upon wide release, but should still be able to turn a profit on its $10 million budget.

Two other films making their debuts won the per-screen-average race this week, with “City Island” taking the top spot. The family dramady starring Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Emily Mortimer, and Alan Arkin took in $35,000 on two screens. For an independent film of this sort, the most important form of marketing is word-of-mouth. Based on the resoundingly enthusiastic reception the film received during advance screenings and the opening run at the Landmark in LA this weekend, “City Island” should very easily be able to make a profit on its $6 million budget as it expands.

In second place, the new IMAX 3-D documentary “Hubble 3D” grossed $453,000 on 39 screens, for a per-screen-average of $11,615.

In a rollercoaster week at the Box-Office, what were you most surprised to see succeed or fail? Please let us know, along with mentioning what and saw this weekend (and as always, its Oscar potential) and on behalf of all of us at the Awards Circuit we look forward to seeing you at the movies.