A Cut Above...And Then Some

Saw III sliced and diced the competition over the weekend, to become the top movie in America...In fact, the numbers so impressed the suits, the word is already here that a fourth film is already being talked up for the franchise

In his Weekend Report for Box Office Mojo Brandon Gray writes:

'Saw III' pulled in an estimated $34.3 million to set a new Halloween record...

Continued...

Jigsaw solves the cinema puzzle--Saw III comes up #1

Ian Mohr of Variety:

Halloween was lucky again this year for Lions Gate, which grossed $34.3 million for the third installment of its slasher series "Saw" -- the biggest bow in the company's history.

Frame's only other new wide release, Focus Features' political drama "Catch a Fire," flamed out, taking in just over $2 million from 1,305 locations and missing out on the top 10.

On the kudos front lines, Clint Eastwood's war epic "Flags of Our Fathers" expanded its campaign to an additional 314 locations but came up behind Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" -- which dropped just 27% in its fourth frame to land at No. 2 -- and Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige" at No. 3.

Paramount's "Flags" took in another $6.3 million on 2,190 battlefields, lifting cume to just under $20 million.

Pic -- which dropped 38%, with the added screens -- is playing on par with Eastwood's "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby," which both gathered steam as they rolled into awards season.

Continued...

Finally, in his wrap-up, Joshua Rich from Entertainment Weekly says of the numbers of Saw III: The best in its franchise so far, the horror flick brings in $34.3 million.

It's nice to see the Saw saga hasn't lost any of its ability to put people in the seats--three films along--for 3 years straight. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Meanwhile, Death Of A President only made about $1835, per its 94 screens...