The Grosses: ‘Puss In Boots’ Shocks ‘Tower Heist’


Top Five (Full list)
1. "Puss In Boots" $33,035,000 ($75,508,000)
2. "Tower Heist" $25,084,150 ($25,084,150)
3. "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas" $13,065,000 ($13,065,000)
4. "Paranormal Activity 3" $8,525,000 ($95,308,000)
5. "In Time" $7,700,000 ($24,208,645)

First Place.
When it opened last week, the grosses for "Puss In Boots" were so low that it almost ranked as a "flop" in our Flop Level Midnight predictions. But the best way to make people forget your tough opening weekend is to nearly match that weekend's numbers the very next weekend. "Puss In Boots" made $33 million, just $1 million less than it did a weekend ago, to surprise everyone and stay in first place despite the supposed juggernaut that was "Tower Heist." If it does the same thing to "Jack and Jill" next week, we'll never stop hugging it.

YOU FLOPPED. We never imagined "Tower Heist" would be even close to its Flop Threshold of $28 million ... and it wasn't. It was way short, at $25 million. Can you believe it made less than "Tropic Thunder" did its opening weekend? That's crazy. Its disappointment helps hide the underwhelming numbers for "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas," which made less its opening weekend than the "Guantanamo Bay" film made, despite the 3D surcharges. Bad signs all.

Impressive Bridesmaid. The third "Paranormal Activity" film is an unqualified smash now; it passed the grosses of the second film over the weekend and will likely become the highest grosser of the series in a week or so. And remember: These movies cost, like, 20 bucks to make.

Tiny Dancer. Not much out there this weekend. It's sort of amazing, though, that a documentary about Charlotte Rampling ("Charlotte Rampling: The Look") did better than a movie starring Channing Tatum, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino, Ray Liotta, Juliette Binoche and Tracy Morgan ("The Son of No One"). "Like Crazy" is still doing well, by the way.

Next Week's Contestants. It's looking iffy out there next weekend. Tarsem's "Immortals" is the big 3D movie on Friday, and the only good news about Adam Sandler's "Jack and Jill" opening is that soon, you will no longer have to watch any more commercials for it. Also, "J. Edgar" opens Wednesday in NY/LA, and then on 1,900 screens on Friday. Lots of makeup effects this weekend.