El Box Office

The horror remake Prom Night sails to the top of the list despite the slashing lacerations given it by film critics. (And if it runs true to genre, it will nose dive in its second weekend.)

Nothing else seems to be busting the turnstiles. Horton now has $135.2 million in its domestic till, which makes it the only Top Ten flick north of the $100 million mark.

Update: Variety weighs in on the Sunday finals:

Sony and Screen Gems’ “Prom Night” terrorized the competish at the weekend box office, grossing an estimated $22.7 million from 2,700 theaters and scoring the best bow for a horror pic so far this year.

“Prom Night,” starring Brittany Snow and Johnathon Schaech, pulled off the move despite a generally soft marketplace for horror pics. More suspense than gore orgy, film won the B.O. crown by a wide margin on the strength of teens who took advantage of the pic’s friendly PG-13 rating.

Placing No. 2 in its bow, Fox Searchlight and New Regency’s Keanu Reeves-Forest Whitaker cop actioner “Street Kings” grossed an estimated $12 million from 2,467 runs, according to Rentrak.

Continuing to play a strong hand, Sony’s gambling drama “21” came in No. 3 in its third sesh, declining a narrow 28% to an estimated $11 million from 2,736 runs for a cume of $62.3 million. That gave Sony two pics in the top five.

But the overall slump at the domestic B.O. continued, sans the breakout hits enjoyed during the first part of 2007, including “300” and “Wild Hogs.” (“Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” is the only 2008 film to cross the $100 million mark; last year there were four.) ...

So there you have it. Except for the occasional animated feature, the movie business is having a sucky year.