It's certainly the 'Little Film That Could'. Fox, despite having one of the worst Box Office years in their recent memory, have signed off 2008 with a rare flourish as K9-themed rom-com "Marley & Me" topped the US Box Office with a $37 million opening weekend! 'What's the attraction?' I hear you cry! Well, for one thing there's little in the way of competition for the Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston-starring vehicle this holiday week and I'm guessing that infamous GQ shoot featuring the latter didn't do any harm either! Some way behind in second place is Adam Sandler in "Bedtime Stories". The Disney effort, lambasted by the critics, took a relatively weak $28 million on its debut. And another new entry at 3 this week is Oscar hopeful, and universally acclaimed gem, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Although never really troubling the top spot, David Fincher's extraordinary film took an impressive $27 million thanks to Brad Pitt's star pulling power. Someone whose pulling power isn't what it used to be is Tom Cruise. Together with director Bryan Singer, the pair conspired to land World War II-set actioner "Valkyrie" in at number 4 with a $21 million weekend.
So dropping all the way down to 5 then is rubber-faced funny man Jim Carrey, in "Yes Man". The ode to positivity positively underwhelmed at the Box Office despite its strong opening last time around. Also leaving audiences cold is Will Smith's "Seven Pounds" falling four places down to 6 thanks to its weighty subject matter. Similarly slumping down the Chart is CG fable "The Tale of Despereaux" at 7 whilst things are moving apace and out of control for "The Day The Earth Stood Still" at 8.
Spare a thought this holiday season though for Frank Miller and "The Spirit". The "300" co-director took the reins on this Green Screen slice of craziness and promptly found himself in unfamiliar territory at 9 in the US Box Office Chart with a meagre $6.5 million opening weekend! And bringing up the rear for the year is Miramax's Oscar heavyweight "Doubt" at 10 having moved up the Chart by five places!