End of Month B.O.

With Add Ons.

No tentpoles are showing up on Super Bowl Weekend because studios aren't stupid. But 20th Century Fox was pleasantly surprised with the movie atop the Friday list:

1. TAKEN (20th Century Fox) OPENER --> $9.5M [3,183 theaters]

2. THE UNINVITED (DreamWorks/Paramount) OPENER --> $4.4M [2,344]

3. PAUL BLART: MALL COP (Sony) 3RD WEEK --> $4.1M [3,206]

4. GRAN TORINO (Warner Bros) 8TH WEEK --> $2.6M [3,015]

5. (tied) NEW IN TOWN (Lionsgate) OPENER --> $2.5M [1,941]

5. (tied) UNDERWORLD 3 (Sony) 2ND WEEK --> $2.5M (-65%) [2,942]

7. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Fox Searchlight) 12TH WEEK --> $2.2M [1,633]

8. HOTEL FOR DOGS (DreamWorks/Paramount) 3RD WEEK --> $1.9M [3,160]

9. MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D (Lionsgate) 3RD WEEK --> $1.4M [1,406]

10. BRIDE WARS (20th Century Fox) 4TH WEEK --> $1.1M [1,985]

No animated film is anywhere near the Top Ten at present, but of three recent inhabitants of the list, all are still out in the world spinning bucks. Current worldwide grosses for selected toonage is:

Madagascar 2 -- $567.5 million

Bolt -- $202,154,010

The Tale or Despereaux -- $71 million.

Add On: The Weekened is in, and Liam's the Man:

1. TAKEN (20th Century Fox) OPENER --> $24.6M Weekend [3,183 theaters]

2. PAUL BLART: MALL COP (Sony) 3rd week --> $14M [3,206] cume $83.3M

3. THE UNINVITED (DreamWorks/Paramount) OPENER --> $10.5M [2,344]

4. HOTEL FOR DOGS (Paramount) 3rd week --> $8.7M [3,160] cume $48.2M

5. GRAN TORINO (Warner Bros) 8th week --> $8.6M [3,015] cume $110.5M

6. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Fox SL) 12th week --> $7.6M [1,633] cume $67.2M

7. UNDERWORLD 3 (Sony) 2nd week --> $7.2M [2,942] cume $32.7M

8. NEW IN TOWN (Lionsgate) OPENER --> $7M [1,941]

9. MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D (LG) 3rd week --> $4.2M [1,406] cume $44.6M

10. INKHEART (New Line/Warner Bros) 2nd week --> $3.7M [2,665] cume $12.7M

So Fox went against Conventional Wisdom and programmed a Guy Film on Superbowl Sunday and got itself a #1 film that came in way above smart-money estimates.

Next week, Coraline is released, and we have animation in the Contenders Column again. Meantime, here's running totals and analyses for toons recently in the domestic Top Ten:

Madagascar 2 stands at $567.9 million in worldwide grosses, almost 70% of that total from overseas. (The domestic gross was not shabby; over $179 million and still ticking, although faintly.)

Bolt's world grosses stand at $202.1 million, of which 44.2% comes from foreign venues. Domestically, it opened on the weak side, but had a box ofice multiplier of over 4 to 1, which ain't bad. I continue to believe that Twilight smothered the white doggie on the first weekend, eating into a chunk of its potential demographic. Others will, no doubt, disagree.

Lastly, if Universal-GE's pickup costs were reasonable, they probably will make money on their distribution of The Tale of Despereaux, the French feature that got fair to middling traction with its American release: opening weekend, $10 million, box office multiplier 5 to 1.