Sun Sep 28, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger

'Eagle Eye' Captures Box Office Crown

Thriller Grabs $29.2 Million

Shia LaBeouf is the new man of action as his Eagle Eye narrowly exceeded estimates and took in $29.2 million at the box office according to Box Office Mojo.  The movie averaged well over $8000 per screen and despite tepid reviews, brought in audiences.

“Eagle Eye jumpstarted the fall box office, and we couldn't be happier," said DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan, adding the movie drew men and women in roughly equal numbers. The conceit of the film is intriguing to all. Between GPS, employee codes, bank PIN numbers, this could conceivably be within the realm of possibility within a few years."

Among other opening films this weekend, the drama Nights in Rodanthe, reunited Diane Lane and Richard Gere used up a lot of tissues and took in $13,570,000. The indie film Fireproof opened to just $6,514,000, running on fewer screens, but averaging nearly $7000 per screen, much better than Rodanthe.  Spike Lee’s Righteous Kill had a poor opening with just $3.8 million earned.

Films in their sophomore week saw reasonable drops with Samuel L. Jackson’s Lakeview Terrace losing 53.3% of the crowd and brining in $7 million, good for third place. Ricky Gervais’ Ghost Town has been a disappointment, though, with just $9,239,000 to show after two weeks in theaters.

The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading did well, with $6,514,000 added to their totals, which now stands at $45,540,000.

September tends to be a mixed bag of releases as the shift in content goes from light to serious as witnessed by Rodanthe’s romance and Lakview’s drama.  MGM’s Igor, for kids, has chugged along, in sixth place this weekend with $5.5 million.

Believe it or not, some theaters are still showing The Dark Knight and after 11 weeks in play, it has earned $524,465,000.

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