By Keith Williams

Last Exorcism not the last

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 8/2/10 — Satanic possessions proved marginally more popular than armed robberies at the nation’s box-office this weekend as mockumentary The Last Exorcism raised an unholy $21.3 million from 2874 haunted barns, a mere $0.3 million more than the estimated $21 million crime thriller Takers stole from 2206 stylized bank heists.

Produced on a budget of $2 million, Last Exorcism yet again demonstrated the durability, and profitability, of the horror genre.  It also raised from the dead the career of its co-producer, Eli Roth, l’enfant terrible creator of Cabin Fever and Hostel, whose sequel and subsequent association with “Torture Porn” contributed to his downfall back in 2007.

Reviews were mixed, but just about everyone seemed to consider the ending very bad, a factor which no doubt led to it receiving a D rating from exiting moviegoers.

Since horror tends to peak its opening day and thereafter plunge into the depths of Hell itself, long-term prospects suggest this particular entry won’t have the longevity of exceptions like Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch Project, but with the weekend gross it’s accrued, and its budget being so low, champagne corks should be popping at LionsGate, and Next Last Exorcism probably being written as we speak.

Nibbling at its heels came Takers, a typical B-movie thriller from Screen Gems who specialise in such fare.  The plot sounds very-been-there-before, but the cast is impressive, featuring Matt Dillon, Idris Elba, and Hayden Christensen, with stalwart Paul Walker to lend it extra credibility.

Critics in this instance were more divided, considering it to be more pretensious than usual with the accent more on style than substance.  Since it has the prerequisite quota of gunfire and explosions, however, that’s what moviegoers are there for, and it could be good for a couple more weeks.

Knocked into third place after two weeks at the top, Stallone’s The Expendables tumbled by 44% for $9.5 million to add to its grand haul of $82 million.  Whether it’ll now cross the $100 million benchmark is debatable, but it’s done way better than anyone expected, and it’ll be interesting to see how well the similarly older-aged Red does shortly starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren, or Jean Claude Van Dame as she looks in the trailer.

Elsewhere in the charts, it was a downward slide for all concerned as summer drew to a close.   Eat Pray Love fell by 42.2% for $7 million (a musty $60.7 million gross), The Other Guys by 35.1% for $6.6 million, annoyingly short by $0.7 million of that cherished $100 million target.

At 6, Vampires Sucked $5.3 million on a 56.6% plunge in blood donors, Inception actually rose from 9 to 7 to confuse another $5.1 million from sleeping moviegoers, at 8 Nanny McPhee Returns dropped 43.6% for $4.7 million in child-care, followed at 9 by The Switch which dribbled 44.8% for $4.6 million.

Preparing to depart the shores of the top ten this week we find Piranha 3D, sinking 57.4% for $4.3 million, its $18.2 million gross inexplicably getting a sequel from the Weinsteins.  But then by their current standards, that is indeed a hit.

Should you be pondering the whereabouts of Avatar – Special Edition 3D which blew back into theaters this weekend, it would appear audiences are more savvy than studios give them credit.  Since this special edition includes eight minutes of “never-before-seen” footage, perhaps they decided to wait until next year when another special edition is put out for sale featuring sixteen extra minutes.  Whatever the reason, it failed to crack the top ten, taking $4 million to add a few sofas to the Cameron household.

Weekend Estimates courtesy boxofficemojo.com