‘Lakeview’ Gets a Look at the Top Spot

Published by Jeff Leins on: September 21st, 2008

Samuel L. Jackson’s Lakeview Terrace won a modest weekend of zero big hits and plenty of new openers. It made an estimated $15.6 million.

It may look like an impressive opening considering the experts predicted about $2 million less, but it barely passed the mark set by his super bomb Snakes on a Plane around this time 2 years ago.

The shady cop story puts Samuel L. Jackson on top for the second time this year after debuting at number one with Jumper in February.

The Coen brothers continued to add to their biggest weekend opening last week by only falling to second place among a crowded mass of mediocre movies. Burn After Reading earned $11.3 million.

A perfect example of the mediocrity were Kate Hudson and Dane Cook in My Best Friend’s Girl, an almost identical rehash of Cook’s Good Luck Chuck last year. The new romantic comedy only made $8.3 million, good enough for third on this slow weekend, but a bomb anywhere else. It was down from Chuck’s $13.7 million opening. Hopefully Dane Cook will stop pretending to act.

John Cusack’s voice in the animated Igor wasn’t enough to bring in adults or children, it only made $8 million.

Then there was Ricky Gervais’s first movie as a headliner, Ghost Town. More like Ghost Down, am I right? High five! It debuted in 8th with just $5.2 million, though the studio seems optimistic about his draw overseas.

In limited release, The Duchess made $29,000 on average across its seven theaters for a total of $203,000.

1. Lakeview Terrace $15.6 million
2. Burn After Reading $11.3 million
3. My Best Friend’s Girl $8.3 million
4. Igor $8 million
5. Righteous Kill $7.7 million
6. The Family That Preys $7.5 million
7. The Women $5.3 million
8. Ghost Town $5.2 million
9. The Dark Knight $2.95 million
10. The House Bunny $2.8 million