Hurricane Irne helps 'The Help' to another victory

With the northeast facing Hurricane Irene, it was not a great weekend at the box office, with "The Help" holding onto the top spot for the second week in a row while another trio of newcomers disappointed.

'The Help' held onto the top spot.

"The Help" earned $14.5 million during its third weekend, bringing its total to $96 million and making it the second highest grossing film of the month, behind "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."

The prequel/reboot fell to third place this weekend with $8.9 million in its fourth week of release for a total of $148 million. (The studios released the weekend's actual box office grosses today.)

Of the newcomers, Luc Besson's "Columbiana" fared the best, with $10.4 million, good enough for second place. Directed by Oliver Megaton, the film, like most of Besson's works, was made on a smaller than average budget ($40 million). The opening for "Columbiana" was slightly higher than Besson's last film, "From Paris with Love" ($8.1 million), which went on to earn $24 million domestically and $52 million worldwide, equaling its production budget.

The horror film "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," starring Katie Holmes, scared up $8.5 million in its debut weekend. Produced and written by Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth"), the movie was made for $25 million.

Opening in fifth place with $7 million was "Our Idiot Brother." Although the comedy boasted a paltry $2,700 per screen average, its tiny $5 million budget should help The Weinstein Company make its money back, depending on how much they spent on promotions.

Faring even worse were last weekend's holdovers, with "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," "Conan the Barbarian" and "Fright Night" all taking significant hits in their second week, dropping 48 percent, 68 percent and 59 percent respectively. With a production budget of $90 million and only $16.6 million to show for it, "Conan" is making a case for one of the biggest box office bombs of the summer.

"The Smurfs," one of the only other films to find an audience this month (although it debuted the last weekend of July), held relatively strong with $4.5 million in its fifth week for a total of $125 million.

The weekend's top 10 films were as follows:

1. "The Help," $14,536,118 (Total: $96.8 million)
2. "Columbiana," $10,408,176 (New)
3. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $8,867,741 (Total: $148.6 million)
4. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," $8,525,728 (New)
5. "Our Idiot Brother," $7,011,631 (New) 
6. "Sky Kids: All the Time in the World," $6,007,180 ($21.9 million)
7. "The Smurfs," $4,754,766 (Total: $125.9 million)
8. "Conan the Barbarian." $3,185,094 ($16.6 million)
9. "Crazy, Stupid, Love," $3,108,178 (Total: $69.7 million)
10. "Fright Night," $3,103,227 ($14.2 million)

'The Help' helps itself to the weekend box office crown

For the second week in a row, a bevy of newcomers crashed and burned at the U.S. box office, while last week's number two film, "The Help," rose to the top, continuing its impressive run.

"The Help" earned $16.3 million.

"The Help" scored $16.3 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates, falling only 21.4 percent from its debut, for a total of $71.8 million over 12 days. Made for a reported $25 million, the film has been of the few success stories of the late summer season.

Meanwhile, last week's number one film, "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes," swapped positions with "The Help," finishing its third weekend with $16.3 million for a total of $133 million.

Unfortunately for their rivals, "Rise" and "The Help" have been the only August releases to find any success at the box office.

Of the four new films to debut this weekend, "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World" fared the best with $12 million on a budget of $27 million. The fourth film in director Robert Rodriguez's children's series arrived eight years after the last installment and opened to little more than a third of what 2003's "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over" did. The long wait in between movies forced the introduction of new spy kids, while the earlier films' original audience is now either in high school or college.

The remake "Conan the Barbarian" likewise failed to find its original's audience, looting a paltry $10 million from the box office. The film had the largest budget--$90 million--of the weekend debuts, and therefore the most to prove and the most the lose.

"Fright Night," another 1980s remake, did little better, scoring only $7.9 million but with one third the budget.

Rounding out the newcomers, the romantic drama "One Day" barely make it into the weekend's top 10 with $5.1 million. It's budget is reported to be $15 million.

Among the rest, "The Smurfs" continued to produce strong returns, drawing $8 million in its fourth weekend for a total of $117 million. Last weekend's other movies--"Final Destination 5" and "30 Minutes or Less"--both dropped more than 50 percent after failing to impress during their debuts.

The weekend's top 10 films were as follows:

1. "The Help," $20,479,000 (Total: $71.8 million)
2. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $16,300,000 (Total: $133.7 million)
3. "Sky Kids: All the Time in the World," $12,020,000 (New)
4. "Conan the Barbarian." $10,000,000 (New)
5. "The Smurfs," $8,000,000 (Total: $117.7 million)
6. "Fright Night," $7,900,000 (New)
7. "Final Destination 5," $18,400,000 ($32.3 million)
8. "30 Minutes or Less," $6,300,000 ($25.7 million)
9. "One Day," $5,128,000 (New)
10. "Crazy, Stupid, Love," $4,950,000 (Total: $64.4 million)