Box office blues

According to early estimates, the top-10 movies this weekend were:

1. Prom Night
$22.7 million

2. Street Kings
$12 million

3. 21
$11 million

4. Nim’s Island
$9 million

5. Leatherheads
$6.2 million

6. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
$6 million

7. Smart People
$4.2 million

8. The Ruins
$3.3 million

9. Superhero Movie
$3.1 million

10. Drillbit Taylor
$2.1 million

It’s disheartening to see the PG-13 horror remake “Prom Night,” which wasn’t pre-screened for critics and which had no pre-opening publicity (good or bad), atop the box office. Also, the critically panned “Street Kings” did fairly well, as did the mediocre “21,” now in its third week.

It’s enough to make you wonder if any audiences are even listening to the critics these days. Sigh!

Of course, the animated Dr. Seuss adaptation “Horton Hears a Who!” did continue to rake in the dough, as it heads towards $150 million mark. Most of the U.S. movie reviewers (including myself) did like that one quite a bit, so maybe not all is lost.

Final box office totals will be released later today.