From hollywoodinsider [excerpt], No one will question Paramount Pictures’ decision to move Shutter Island out of last year’s crowded fall corridor into Spring 2010 after it racked up a number one slot for the second weekend in a row. For the Leonardo DiCaprio-Martin Scorsese pairing earned an estimated $22.2 million, out-grossing any new releases and putting its total box office at over $75 million. Of the new releases, Kevin Smith’s buddy comedy Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, was the highest grosser with a $18.5 million opener and a second-place spot in the rankings. Overture Films’ R-rated horror film The Crazies debuted at $16.5 million for third place.
Avatar continues to astound. James Cameron’s extravaganza fell only 14% its eleventh weekend in theaters to gross an additional $14 million, putting its domestic gross at an unbelievable $706 million. The minimal drop will give Twentieth Century Fox added ammunition as it tries to hold onto 3-D screens opposite Disney’s Alice in Wonderland next weekend. Fifth place belonged to Fox’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The PG-rated film is one of the only family films in the marketplace and its $9.8 million gross, representing a scant 36% fall, illustrates the movie’s staying power.
