‘Wall Street’ tops lukewarm box office
Published 5:58 pm Sunday, September 26, 2010
LOS ANGELES — Movie fans are investing in Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” which opened as the No. 1 weekend movie with $19 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The 20th Century Fox release led a crop of so-so to weak newcomers, though the sequel to Douglas and Stone’s 1987 hit “Wall Street” did not quite set off a bull market at the box office.
The “Wall Street’ sequel reunites director Stone with Douglas, who reprises his role as investment shark Gordon Gekko. The movie co-stars Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan and Josh Brolin in a tale set against the 2008 economic meltdown.
“I think expectations were pretty high for this movie. That’s not only an iconic character of Gordon Gekko but it’s also an iconic movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. “But then, it’s about the world of high finance. That’s not exactly a topic that sets the box office on fire.”
The Warner Bros. animated adventure “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” was No. 2 with a soft opening of $16.3 million.
It finished barely ahead of the $16 million haul for Warner’s “The Town,” the Ben Affleck heist drama that was the previous weekend’s No. 1 release. “The Town” held up well and raised its 10-day total to $49.1 million.
Sony’s teen comedy “Easy A,” which had been No. 2 a weekend earlier, also held up well with $10.7 million to finish at No. 4. “Easy A” lifted its 10-day total to $32.8 million.
Disney’s mother-daughter comedy “You Again,” starring Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver, debuted at No. 5 with an anemic $8.3 million.
Playing in narrower release, the Will Ferrell-produced teen comedy “The Virginity Hit” flopped with just $300,000.
