Despite a sphere of influence unrivaled in the media world, The A.V. Club has failed to convince Americans that The Blind Side, the inspirational true story of a stray puppy poor African-American teenager brought in by a white Southern family and turned into a football star, is a piece of crap. After holding its own against New Moon juggernaut for a couple of weeks, The Blind Side has capitalized on steady business and solid word-of-mouth to hit the #1 spot in its third week, bringing in another $20.4 million for $129 million total. Also performing above expectations: The wartime melodrama Brothers, which debuted in third with a healthy $9.7 million, despite the conventional wisdom that movies about Iraq or Afghanistan are box office poison. Faring less well were the week’s other wide releases, with the not-screened-for-critics heist thriller Armored in sixth at $6.6 million and the weak Robert De Niro drama Everybody’s Fine debuting all the way back at #10 with $4 million.
In limited release, Jason Reitman’s Oscar favorite Up In The Air bowed to predictably smashing business, earning a whopping $79,000 per screen on 15 screens. Barring some unexpected downturn, the film looks to be in prime shape when it touches down expands nationwide on Christmas Day. In non-shocking but nonetheless hilarious news, the roundly panned sex comedy Transylmania did Delgo-like numbers, with only $272 per screen on 1,007 screens, proving that the theatrical prospects for a second sequel to two straight-to-DVD National Lampoon movies are limited indeed.
For more detailed numbers, visit Box Office Mojo.