Weekend Box Office Results for October 10–12, 2008

Weekend Box Office Results for October 10–12, 2008

The overall total for the weekend was about normal for this time of year, 2% above last year and 1% above the rolling four-year average. Given that fact, the weak performance of the new releases relative to expectations seems to be as much a factor of the projections as of the performance.

The two biggest releases, Body of Lies and The Express, tanked completely. Body of Lies, despite director Ridley Scott and two big stars, finished a tepid third, behind the no-name horror movie. The football movie barely made the chart, grossing less than $5 million, compared to an expectation of about $10. The kiddie fantasy film also came in at about half of expectations which were low to begin with.

The positive note was the horror film, Quarantine, which finished a solid second behind carry-over Chihuahua.