BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: The Final Destination Makes a Killing with $28.3 Million

Weekend Box Office

1) The Final Destination - $28.3 million
2) Inglourious Basterds - $20 million
3) Halloween II - $17.4 million
4) District 9 - $10.7 million
5) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - $8 million
6) Julie & Julia - $7.4 million
7) The Time Traveler's Wife - $6.7 million
8) Shorts - $4.8 million
9) Taking Woodstock - $3.7 million
10) G-Force - $2.8 million

It was a classic horror showdown this weekend, with two successful horror franchises squaring off, and death coming out on top... in 3-D. The Final Destination came out on top at the box office with an estimated $28.3 million. The opening weekend take is the highest in the franchise's history, besting the $19.1 million that Final Destination 3 grossed in 2006. Screening in 3,121 theaters, The Final Destination snagged a healthy $9,079 per-screen average and should easily have made back its $40 million budget in the next couple of days.

Halloween II came in third place with $17.4 million, behind last week's box office champ, Inglourious Basterds, which took in an impressive $20 million, down just 47% from last week. Halloween II, director Rob Zombie's follow-up to his 2007 remake Halloween, fell quite short of the 2007 remake's $26.3 million opening weekend, but the sequel is already profitable, since the film cost just $15 million to make. The film was released in 3,025 theaters and took in a decent $5,754 per-screen average, but I wouldn't be surprised if this drops quite a bit next weekend, perhaps more than 60%.

The only other film in a semi-wide release this weekend was Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, which came in ninth place with an estimated $3.7 million. The film was shown in 1,393 theaters but could only muster a paltry per-screen average of $2,691. It was a fairly good weekend for films in limited release, though, as several films had great debut weekends. The September Issue took in a highly-impressive $240,000 from just six theaters, good for a massive $40,000 per-screen average, Patton Oswalt's Big Fan took in $26,000 from just two theaters, for a $13,000 per-screen average and the cult comedy Mystery Team opened in just one theater and took in $7,900, although I'm sure plans are in the works for expansion.

Next weekend is Labor Day weekend and three films will be competing for the box office crown in this summer-ending weekend. Lionsgate's Gamer will get the widest release with a theater count over 2,300, the Fox comedy All About Steve will roll out in approximately 2,000 theaters and the Mike Judge comedy Extract will bow in 1,600 theaters. Who will come out on top? Check back right here next weekend for your answer.