“Jumper” leads holiday period with $34M, Brian Evigan “Steps Up” with $26M, “Fool’s Gold” and Miley Cyrus still going strong

By Jeffrey Jolson

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 2/17/08 — Hayden Christensen defied gravity as well as critical scorn as his sci-fi film ‘Jumper’ bounded to No. 1 with an estimated $33.8 million in the weekend part of the holiday box office period that ran Valentine’s Day through Presidents Day this year.

Christensen had been soundly trashed by many critics who said it was the second sci-fi story he ruined with wooden acting including “Star Wars 2-3,” which of course went on to box office glory. For instance the San Jose Mercury News said “The only force on Earth so dense that it apparently can’t be moved even by the movie’s special effects is Christensen’s wooden acting. After bringing the second “Star Wars” trilogy to its knees as the inert Anakin Skywalker, his performance here threatens the very fabric of time and space.”

However, the real surprise of the weekend was urban teen dance flick “Step Up 2 the Streets” with an estimated $26.3 million tapping past the expensive fantasy film “The Spiderwick Chronicles” which had about $21.4 million.

The original “Step” film’s Channing Tatum isn’t in this sequel to the $100 million-grossing “Step Up” though hard-dancing hardbody Briana Evigan steps up to see the film does solid business though relatively few adults will ever see it.

“Spiderwick” scared up it’s $21 million after a close race, but its strength as a family picture didn’t compare with a teen date movie: on Valentine’s Day evening, “Step Up” danced up a storm.

The holiday’s other new date movie, “Definitely, Maybe,” starring red hot Ryan Reynolds, did a strong $12.8 million. However that wasn’t enough to beat Matthew McConaughey in the romancer “Fool’s Gold,” which came in No. 4 with $13 million and a $42 million total so far.

The Martin Lawrence comedy came in No. 6 with $8.8 million and a $29 total after its second weekend.

Coming in at No. 7 is the only leading Oscar contender that’s also a box office hit, “Juno” with $4.6 million on the weekend and a $124 million gross so far.

Rounding out the top ten list was Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman’s “The Bucket List” with $4.1M and a $81M total gross, the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus 3-D concert film with $3.2M and a whopping $58M in limited release and Katherine Heigl’s “27 Dresses” which sewed up another $3.1 million for a $70 million total – not bad for the model’s first major outing as a leading lady.