August 29, 2011 by Vinnie Leduc
The late summer dumping grounds were hit additionally this weekend by the East Coast’s fears of Hurricane Irene, allowing reigning domestic box office champ The Help to maintain its top spot and fend off another batch of weak openings for the second consecutive weekend. Of newcomers Colombiana, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and Our Idiot Brother, only the Zoe Saldana revenge action flick managed to debut (barely) in the double-digit millions, but it wasn’t enough to unseat The Help. The well-received Emma Stone tearjerker, nearing the $100 million mark in its third week of release, prevented Rise of the Planet of the Apes last week from being the first 2011 film to rule the box office throne for three weekends in a row and now has the surprising chance to nab that title for itself next weekend.
Here were the top 5 in the domestic box office last weekend via BOM:
- The Help — Weekend Gross: $14.3 million — Total Gross: $96.6 million (#1 last week)
- Colombiana — Weekend Gross: $10.3 million — Total Gross: $10.3 million (new)
- Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark — Weekend Gross: $8.7 million — Total Gross: $8.69 million (new)
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes — Weekend Gross: $8.65 million — Total Gross: $148.5 million (#2 last week)
- Our Idiot Brother — Weekend Gross: $6.6 million — Total Gross: $6.6 million (new)
