Weekend box-office: Audiences opt for 'Knowing' (HWD)

By Paul Dergarabedian

Summit's sci-fi thriller "Knowing" proves that if you take a major star, plug him into a summer-style thriller and then market the heck out of it you can grab the number one spot with $24.8 million.

While worries about the economic crisis fill the airwaves, escapism took the form of a doomsday scenario in which money, mortgages and debt have no meaning and thus had strong appeal for audiences.

From his 1990s hits "The Rock," "Face/Off" and "Con Air" to the "National Treasure" films in the mid-2000s, Cage has proven his enduring box-office appeal and brand name recognition with moviegoers.

Paul Rudd is no box-office slouch either as "I Love You, Man" took the second spot with $18 million. "I Love You" gives Rudd his fourth number two debut in a row (last year as co-lead in "Role Models" and with memorable supporting roles in 2008's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and 2007's "Knocked Up") and demonstrates his status as an established comedy brand.

Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in "Duplicity" grabbed the third spot with $14.4 million as the Tony Gilroy-directed international cat and mouse romp proved to be a brainy cinematic fine dining experience compared to the cinematic fast food that the top two films offered. Still arguably the biggest female star in the world, Roberts continues to draw her fans to the multiplex and she and co-star Clive Owen make a great on-screen pair.

At number four "Race to Witch Mountain" dropped a modest 47% while maintaining its family audience with another $13 million as it races towards the $50 million mark. Dwayne Johnson's PG-rated appeal is in evidence and shows that Disney plus 'The Rock' equals families in the theater.

Rounding out the Top 5 is "Watchmen" which is on the verge of $100 million domestically after earning a further $6.7 million this weekend. The film continues to polarize critics and audiences alike, but is a guaranteed $100 million plus hit.

On a smaller scale, but no less important was the expanded run of "Sunshine Cleaning" which realized a 222% increase in its second weekend in 60 additional theaters for a solid per-theater average of over $11,000.

The second consecutive 'down' weekend as our YTD advantages are unfortunately getting smaller.

Hopefully it will be the "Monsters" and their Alien foes saving the planet and the box-office next weekend when "Monsters Vs. Aliens" hits theaters.

1. "Knowing" (SUMMIT) $24,814,000

2. "I Love You, Man (DW/PAR) $18,005,000

3. "Duplicity" (UNI) $14,401,530

4. "Race to Witch Mountain" (DIS) $13,004,000, cume $44,715,000

5. "Watchmen" (WB) $6,725,000, cume $98,065,000

6. "Last House on the Left" (UNI) $5,920,930, cume $24,047,190

7. "Taken" (FOX) $4,100,000, cume $133,138,708

8. "Slumdog Millionaire" (SEARCHLIGHT) $2,700,000, cume $137,201,808

9. "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" (LG) $2,510,000, cume, $87,210,000

10. "Coraline" (FOCUS) $2,142,689, cume $72,853,116