Disturbia rouses the US box office

You are a film executive. You’ve just completed a movie that stars not only Halle Berry’s sexy body but also Bruce Willis. It’s a steamy thriller with an Internet hook. “Ah,” you think to yourself, as you sit back, light a cigar made of money and reach for a roasted puppy, “I shall win the box office and that little teen-centric remake of Rear Window… what’s it called, Sublurbia... will perish! Muhahahahahaaa!” Well, someone is laughing on the other side of their well nipped and mightily tucked face this morning as the little thriller that could – better known as Disturbia, and featuring rising star Shia LaBeouf - handily won the weekend with a healthy estimated $23 million.

That means skating comedy Blades Of Glory had to drop to second place, but don’t cry for Paramount/DreamWorks: the weekend’s result means they have the top two films in the US and A right now. Will Ferrell’s icy laugh-a-thon nabbed $14 million in its third week of release, for a healthy $90 million total to date.

In third, Meet The Robinsons continued to prove that you shouldn’t write Disney off just yet, with a $12 million third week. That put it in the charts above the thriller we joked about earlier - Perfect Stranger. The film, which saw Halle Berry’s crusading journo attempt to take down a sleazy mogul (Bruce Willis) after she suspects him of offing her friend, slumped to an $11.5 million opening.

In fifth and still holding strong thanks to decent family business was Are We Done Yet, which certainly wasn’t finished grabbing the dollars. Ice Cube’s latest took in $9.2 million in its second week, with $33 million in its house fund so far. Unlikely to get anywhere near that is Pathfinder, the nonsense Vikings vs Native Americans action epic directed by Marcus Nispel. With awful word of mouth (well earned – it’s appalling and unintentionally hilarious), the Karl Urban film opened to $4.8 million and looks sure to swan dive from the charts next week. A word of advice to Karl: you did Doom. And now you’ve done this. It’s time for a new agent!

At seventh, Wild Hogs kept its motor running, with $4.6 this seventh week of release and $152 million so far. Busy praying for some better luck was Hilary Swank horror thriller The Reaping, which dropped down to eighth from its fifth-place opening and has notched up just $19 million so far.

In ninth place, 300 marched past $200 million this week, and with healthy international box office, it’s earned plenty to keep the coffers of Sparta full.

And finally, we have the story everyone’s talking about when they’re not sniggering at Perfect Stranger’s dodgy opening figure. Yes, Grindhouse. Or Bob And Harvey Weinstein’s Flophouse as it might soon be called. Losing 64% of its business in its second release week, the exploitation celebration took just $4.2 million for a running- well, limping – total of $19 million. Next time Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez want to try this idea, they might want to stick to real Grindhouse budgets and make cheaper movies...