BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: The Town Steals the Weekend with $23.8 Million!

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

There was nothing shocking at the box office last weekend as the highly anticipated fourth chapter of the popular Resident Evil series, Resident Evil: Afterlife dominated the box office as expected with $27.7 million. But the film will have a tough time repeating that success this weekend with four new films entering the box office race including director Ben Affleck's second effort The Town and the much-talked-about new high school film Easy a starring Emma Stone.

Debuting at number one this week is the new film from actor turned director Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), which is already earning Oscar buzz called The Town. The bank robbery film that takes place in Boston stars a stellar cast of actors which in addition to Affleck himself includes Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Blake Lively (Gossip Girl), Rebecca Hall (Please Give) and Oscar winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation). The movie made $8,319 on each of its 2,861 screens for a wicked opening weekend total of $23.8 million. The film has received very positive reviews and if it continues to perform well should be able to earn back its entire $37 million budget in the next few weeks.

Debuting at number two this week is the Scarlet Letter themed high school comedy Easy a starring Emma Stone (Zombieland, Superbad). The film's talented cast also includes Oscar nominees Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April) and Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) as well as Lisa Kudrow (Friends), Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl), Amanda Bynes (Hairspray) and screen legend Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange). The movie made $6,373 on each of its 2,856 screens for an excellent opening weekend total of $18.2 million, earning back it's entire $8 million production budget and a pretty nice profit as well.

Debuting at number three this week is a new supernatural thriller based on a story written by the film's producer, director M. Night Shyamalan, called Devil. The film stars Chris Messina (Greenberg), Geoffrey Arend ((500) Days of Summer), Caroline Dhavernas (The Switch), Jacob Vargas (Death Race), Bokeem Woodbine (Ray) and Matt Craven (The Clearing). The movie made $4,480 on each of its 2,809 screens for a frightening opening weekend total of $12.5 million, which earns back it's entire $10 million production budget and then some.

Falling three places from last week to number four this week is the fourth chapter of the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil: Afterlife, based on the popular video game. Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) returns in the lead role and is accompanied by a talented cast of actors, which includes Ali Larter (Heroes), Wentworth Miller (Prison Break), Boris Kodjoe (Surrogates) and Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy). While the movie dropped an astonishing 62.1% from its debut last week and was actually added in six new theaters this week, it earned roughly $3,147 on each of its 3,209 screens for a weekend total of $10.1 million. Now in just two weeks the movie has made over $43 million but is still shy of earning back its initial $60 million production budget.

Finally, rounding off the top five this week in its debut is the new 3-D computer animated film Alpha and Omega. The movie stars a talented cast of voice actors including Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard), Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), Christina Ricci (Speed Racer), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon 2), Larry Miller (Pretty Woman) and screen legend, the late Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider). The movie made $3,505 on each of its 2,625 screens for a decent opening weekend total of $9.2 million, which is almost half of its initial $20 million production budget.

Doing well in limited release this week is the new drama Never Let Me Go from One Hour Photo director Mark Romanek. The film stars Oscar nominees Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Keira Knightley (Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl), as well as the new Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield (Untitled Spider-Man Reboot). The movie debuted on only four screens but earned $30,250 on each for a weekend total of $121,000.

Also doing well in its debut in limited release is the 2010 Sundance Film Festival smash-hit movie, Catfish. The documentary follows filmmakers Henry Joost and Rel Schulman as they chronicle photographer Nev Schulman's budding long distance romance with a girl he met on Facebook who may be hiding a big secret of her own. The movie debuted on twelve screens and earned $21,250 on each for a weekend total of $255,000.

Next week will see the opening of four highly anticipated new films in wide release and two in limited release.

Opening next week in wide release is the latest film from visionary director Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Dawn Of The Dead) called Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. The animated film about a group of heroic owls stars an all-star cast of voice actors including Oscar winners Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Geoffrey Rush (Shine) as well as Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Emilie de Ravin (Lost), Abbie Cornish (Sucker Punch) and Ryan Kwanten (True Blood).

Also opening in wide release next week is Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the long-awaited sequel to director Oliver Stone's iconic '80s movie Wall Street. The film stars Michael Douglas reprising his Oscar winning role as Gordon Gekko and also features a talented cast of actors including Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), Josh Brolin (Jonah Hex), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Susan Sarandon (The Lovely Bones), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men).

Opening wide in theaters next is the new romantic comedy You Again, about a young woman who must deal with the demons of her past when her brother marries her high school rival. The film stars a talented group of female performers including Kristen Bell (When in Rome), Odette Yustman (Rogues Gallery), Sigourney Weaver (Avatar), Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies), Kristin Chenoweth (Four Christmases) and Betty White (The Proposal).