Box office: A sixth consecutive 'up' weekend in store?

By Paul Dergarabedian

Lots of activity at the nation's theaters as horror, comedy and action debuts are set to make their mark at the box-office. With "Watchmen" holding stronger than many were willing to give it credit for (the film posted a Monday gross of $3.9 million and a Tuesday gross of $3.4 million), it will present itself as a formidable competitor to the newcomers.

R-rated horror has its many fans as evidenced by the strong debut of "Friday the 13th" on Friday the 13th of February and Universal's "Last House on the Left" opens this Friday the 13th to what could be a strong debut for the re-make of the infamously brutal original film. This one keeps the tenor and tone of that film which will delight the true fans of this type of horror.

Families looking for an outing to please the whole family and get them out of the house for not too much coin have the "Race to Witch Mountain" option. Starring Dwayne Johnson, this update of the venerable Disney title will again demonstrate the continued popularity of the PG rating and the results should be strong.

Could this be the sixth consecutive "up" weekend at the box-office? Indicators say yes despite a very strong opening for "Horton Hears a Who" which debuted last year over the same weekend to the tune of $45 million plus at the box-office and stayed number one for two weekends in a row.