1 N The School of Rock Par. $20,200,000 - 2,614 - $7,727 $20,200,000 $32 / $20 1
2 N Out of Time MGM $17,000,000 - 3,076 - $5,526 $17,000,000 $50 / $25 1
3 1 The Rundown Uni. $9,777,000 -47.3% 3,154 +2 $3,099 $32,741,000 $85 / $25 2
4 2 Under the Tuscan Sun Dis. $7,908,000 -18.9% 1,697 +471 $4,659 $20,967,000 - / - 2
5 4 Secondhand Lions NL $5,375,000 -34.9% 3,032 -6 $1,772 $30,816,000 - / - 3
6 3 Underworld SGem $4,800,000 -49% 2,715 -213 $1,767 $44,540,000 $22 / $20 3
7 10 Lost in Translation Focus $4,267,000 15.7% 864 +376 $4,938 $14,162,000 - / - 4
8 5 The Fighting Temptations Par. $3,285,000 -48.6% 1,762 -264 $1,864 $24,475,000 $30 / $15 3
9 6 Once Upon a Time in Mexico Sony $2,550,000 -49% 2,097 -825 $1,216 $53,000,000 $29 / $20 4
10 8 Cold Creek Manor Dis. $2,502,000 -43.2% 1,938 -97 $1,291 $18,330,000 - / - 3
11 9 Matchstick Men WB $2,370,000 -45.6% 2,007 -659 $1,180 $34,290,000 - / - 4
12 7 Duplex Mira. $2,142,000 -53.6% 2,191 +2 $977 $7,831,000 - / - 2
13 12 Pirates of the Caribbean Dis. $1,657,000 -30.2% 1,211 -232 $1,368 $297,959,000 $140 / $40 13
14 13 Cabin Fever Lions $1,100,000 -47.2% 1,056 -573 $1,041 $19,800,000 $1.5 / $12 4

Didn't think School of Rock would do that well. I mean the theater had like 5 other people when I saw it on friday in the afternoon (the crappy lowes theater in town),

Impressive take for both School of Rock and Out of Time.

WOW 20 Mil, for SoR is VERY impressive. To the average movie goer Jack Black is a nobody still, so that is a huge opening for a movie with no even semi-big stars in it especially considering it was opening against a new movie with a huge star in it.

I also think it's worthy of not that SoR opened to a larger take than The Rundown did, with the Rock being hyped as the next big action star & a huge promotion boost for that movie , I think it's awesome that the Rundown seems to be fizzling out fast & SoR looks like it will do better in the long run.

Not surprised jack black took it.

Glad to see School of Rock doing well, sad to see The Rundown dropping almost by half.

Wrong movie to crucify in a rally against The Man. The Rundown is one of the few movies that actually lives up to the hype spewed by the Hollywood marketing machine and I'm sincerely disappointed that its talented director and charismatic star may be set back by the film's performance. If anything, the director has received very little hype despite doing a job that rivals any action work done in the last 5 years.

Lost in Translation expanding and still doing well.
Even Bandoman saw it this past weekend

I saw it for a second time

I must agree. I heard very little hype about RUNDOWN before it's opening day and you know what, I loved it. I used to be a fan of wrestling and the rock but the interest has died and I'm not that big of a stifler fan, but you know... it was damn entertaining.

School of rock though.. well really, Jack black doesn't float my boat. I can take him in small doses, but if you give me two hours of his "comedy" it's not pretty. the film will fizzle away when the next wave of films hits. no problem there. it was a very slow weekend if you ask me. Lost in translation opened to a larger crowd and it's not a mainstream movie to begin with. this weekend was not anything of a big crowd at all.

Over all, I think people were more pleased with Run Down then they were with school of rock. lets see how it goes in the end though.

I loved "The Rundown" and "School of Rock" and am pleased to see them doing well. "Under The Tuscan Sun" is doing GREAT business in limited release. 1200 screens - $21 million! That's great boxoffice. Diane Lane IS a bonafide star now and so is Jack Black!

I think SoR's good word of mouth will carry it into another good weekend. Other than Mystic River, is there anything big coming out this week?

Kill Bill-Pt.1, Intolerable Cruelty, Good Boy & House of the Dead are all opening wide this weekend, so it's a pretty safe bet that SoR will probably be knocked down a few notches.

SoR is a great movie... but yeah, prolly be #3 nextweekend thanks to Kill Bill (deservedly so) and Inmtolerable Cruelty (meh).

j

I don't know who "the Man" is but the Rundown for me lived up to no hype whatsoever. Any of a million directors could have directed that movie, there was NOTHING different or unique about the filming whatsoever & charasmatic is NOT at all the word I would use to describe a guy who calls himself "the Rock". I swear his hair was CGI in the movie & his acting just seems so forced to me. And Stifler was sooooo annoying he was just making cringe with every bad line. Saying the director did a job that "rivals any action work done in the last 5 years" is one of the most silly statements I've ever seen on these boards. Have you seen Hero, how one earth can you compare the action in that movie compared to The Rundown. Not to mention countless other Hong Kong movies that have action & fight scenes that make the Rundown look like just another typical American popcorn movie. Even other American movies have WAYYYY better action that The Rundown. Take the Transporter for example where the star did all of his own fights & stunts letting the director actually pan back the camera & hold the scene as opposed to The Rundowns usuall quick takes & edits to mask poor action scenes.

Unbelievable. Are you sure you even watched The Rundown? Your message makes you sound like the type who would've boycotted it on principle.

Please, name some other recent action films that have a similar visual style to The Rundown. That have that same roving camera and whimsical zooms. I would love to see them. The fact of the matter is that the camera movement, angles, editing and general pacing of The Rundown is excellent and as good as the slickest Hollywood has to offer.

Regarding the fight scenes, yes, they use rapid cutting. However, NOT ALL QUICK CUTTING IS CREATED EQUAL. I hate that stuck up attitude that immediately denounces any action movie which isn't shot & edited like a 1970s Shaw Bros kung fu flick. Not all quick-cutting equals poorly done Michael Bay crap. It's a matter of retaining rhythm and coherence. You can have those things and still be cutting rapidly. The Rundown was a great example of this. Especially during the last battle, the editing was practically virtuoso work:

1) It juggled multiple viewpoints effortlessly.
2) It created tension and excitement.
3) Yet it still had an ebb and flow like the best HK action scenes.
4) You still always understood what was going on no matter how fast the cuts were coming.

Besides, the choreography in this film emphasized power over intricacy. It didn't need extremely long takes since the exchanges were quick and brutal (though even within that framework, they held the shot when necessary. eg, Ernie Reyes' punching combos, or whenever a big move was executed). Did you know it was choreographed by Andy Cheng, long time member of Jackie Chan's stunt team? He even stated it was his chance to do all the things he's always wanted to do but coudln't because it didn't fit Jackie's style.

It was filled with beautiful and unusual action sequences that were aided BOTH by the choreography and the way it was shot/edited. The part where The Rock explodes through the column was gorgeous and executed to perfection. The whip fighting was novel and again executed in a way I've never seen before. And why are we only talking about the fighting? What about the shotgun tricks they used here? Again, something original that was executed very effectively.

So yes, the Rundown was a great action film and the director really did do action work that rivals (REMEMBER, rivals does not mean it is better, just equivalent) anything that's come out in the last 5 years. In terms of _action direction_, The Transporter (and I like the film) did absolutely nothing new and didn't use any technique that Jackie et al hadn't already perfected in the late 80s. Hero was a beautiful movie, but not an action film. Zhang Yimou's sensibilities are completely at odds with making action and it's a credit to Ching Siu Tung, Jet and Donnie that their duel manages to have a pulse at all. Zhang Yimou makes beautiful, interesting movies, but he's no action director.

Incidentally, The Rock did all but two of his stunts on The Rundown. If you've actually seen the movie, you'll know the stunts were far more brutal than anything Statham had to endure on the Transporter.

I didn't like the Rundown nor the Rock in it, it's just my opinion, we can't all like the same things. The Rock just doesn't do it for me, the one-liners & lame jokes were non-stop & the action for me just wasn't anything special. So I stand by my saying that I'm glad the drop off was so huge. And I don't think there has been one truly superb action movie made in America in the past 5 years so saying it rivals the best of them isn't much of a compliment IMO. For an American action movie The Transporter has been the best IMO & I would much rather have Statham pushed as the next big "action star" than the Rock. Yeah, some of the sequence were executed well in The Rundown, but if I can't stand watchinig the actor in it, then I could care less how cool the action is. And for me, the action wasn't "cool" enough to make up for what I didn't like in the movie. You love the movie, more power to you. I don't, get over it. It's no big deal.

Yeah its no big deal, but you're one of the few people i've heard that didn't like the movie, and seemingly almost hate it. I can't help but think that part of that is not liking "The Rock" to begin with. Personally, i think the opposite of what you do and felt The Transporter was the biggest letdown for me in recent times, despite how great Statham is (of whom i'm a big fan)

I agree, that there are people who will either not see or like "The Rundown" just because of who's starring in it. I know two co-workers of mine who won't see it just because of The Rock. It's pretty sad, considering Vin Diesel (another so-called heir to Arnie's action-star throne) has seen much more success and all his movies sucked bad IMHO (sorry, I have no interest in modded cars ala Fast and the Furious, and xXx was just lame). The Rundown is probably the best action movie I've seen all year so far (w/ the exception of X2).