Lots of new movies this week, but not a lot of cash flowing at the box office. Four new releases, but none of them could top last week's number one Tropic Thunder. It's not so much that Tropic Thunder is a great movie; it's more that everything else opening wasn't worth the trip.
Dropping only 35% from last weekend, the Ben Stiller comedy held its own with a surprising $16 million, edging out the embarrassing House Bunny. Violent remake Death Race, took the third place spot with $12 million. All of those medicore totals would have been welcome for Rainn Wilson and his dismally received The Rocker.
You may have seen Wilson's last ditch viral marketing attempt to pitch his film. As the guy who plays Dwight on "The Office" he had privy to getting his fellow cast members involved, including poor Jenna Fischer whom he pretended to lock in the back of his car until his movie made $17 million. Given that The Rocker earned less than $3 million and came in twelfth place, Jenna had better make herself pretty comfortable in the back window of that car.
Hamlet 2 enjoyed a solid reception in limited release. With only 100+ theaters it still earned a respectable $435,000. That's not strong enough to indicate that it will make good money in wide release, but at least enough to cover its modest $9 million budget.
