Weekend of November 13 – 15, 2009: Emmerich's action flick destroys everything!

Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic action spectacle “2012” destroyed its competition at the North American box office this weekend with a solid $65 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Sony’s “2012” opened at 3,404 locations Friday and scored an explosive average of $19,095 per theater this weekend, easily beating the $35,8 million opening gross of Emmerich’s previous film “10,000 B.C.”

Starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt and Danny Glover, the action adventure follows a group of individuals trying to survive a series of cataclysms as the world is coming to an end.

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Weekend of November 6 – 8, 2009: Scrooge beats goats, aliens and creepy boxes...

As expected, Walt Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” took the No. 1 spot at the North American box office this weekend with a solid $31 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Robert Zemeckis-directed 3D motion-capture adventure based on Charles Dickens’ classic tale opened at 3,683 locations and scored an average of $8,417 per theater, enough to crush its competition.

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Weekend of Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2009: Michael Jackson film triumphs with $21M

Sony Pictures’ Michael Jackson documentary “This Is It” prevailed at the top of the North American box office this weekend with $21.3 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Kenny Ortega-directed film opened at 3,481 locations Wednesday, bagging $11.1 million in two days. The domestic total of “This Is It” currently stands at a solid $32.5 million.

Most of the film's footage was shot in June 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. It includes scenes drawn from hours of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage.

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This just keeps getting better and better. Just as I expected, Paramount's surprise suspense thriller "Paranormal Activity" overpowered new entry "Saw VI" at the North American box office Friday with a superb $7.6 million in ticket sales after expanding to 1,945 locations.

Oren Peli's excellent thriller lifted its domestic total to $48 million. Meanwhile, Lionsgate's "Saw VI" opened at 3,036 locations and bagged $7 million Friday, enough for second place. The sixth installment in the series picks up where the last film ended and digs deeper into Jigsaw's past.

Things didn't go that well for this week's other new releases. Paul Weitz's "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," about a teenager who joins a freak show and becomes a vampire, only made it to No. 7 with a daily gross of $2.2 million from ticket sales at 2,754 locations.

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Weekend of October 16 – 17, 2009: New releases help boost box office performance

Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” easily defeated its competition at the North American box office this weekend with a solid $32.4 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The big-screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved book scored a strong average of $8,693 per theater at 3,735 locations. Starring Max Records, the film follows a lonely boy who bonds with a bunch of wild creatures in his imagination.

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"Where the Wild Things Are" scores big while "Paranormal Activity" surprises even more!

Spike Jonze's big-screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book "Where the Wild Things Are" stormed to the top of the North American box office Friday with a solid $11.9 million in ticket sales at 3,735 locations.

The film starring Max Records as a lonely boy escaping into his imagination delivered a superb start, and I'm glad it did. It's a truly wonderful adaptation I can only recommend you see if you haven't already.

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Weekend of October 9 – 11, 2009: 'Couples Retreat' wins; 'Paranormal Activity' delivers!

Universal’s comedy “Couples Retreat” safely landed at the top of the North American box office this weekend with a solid $35.3 million in ticket sales at 3,000 locations, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Starring Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Jason Bateman, the film follows four couples traveling to a prestigious tropical island resort where they’re forced to partake in numerous couple therapy sessions.

Also breaking into the top 10 this weekend was “Paranormal Activity,” which expanded to 159 locations and took the No. 5 spot with a superb $7 million. The film’s early total gross currently stands at $8.2 million.

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New release "Couples Retreat" easily topped the North American box office Friday with a solid $12.3 million in ticket sales at 3,000 locations. That's a nice start for the comedy starring Vince Vaughn.

Also starring Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell and Kristin Davis, the film follows four couples who travel to a presitigious tropical island resort where they're forced to partake in a series of therapy sessions.

Delivering the most surprising result Friday was Paramount's horror hit "Paranormal Activity," which bagged an incredible $2.5 million from ticket sales at only 159 locations, enough for the No. 4 spot.

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