Nothing Up Its Sleeve

Christopher Nolan's mystery/thriller The Prestige was a tough (magic) act to follow--taking the top spot as the #1 movie in the country. While its most direct competition, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, had to settle for third place...The makers of this WWII drama also find themselves responding to a "color blind" controversy for the movie...

Poof!-- Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman help make The Prestige

The #1 Movie In The U.S.

Leading off the analysis of the weekend numbers is Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo:

'The Prestige' summoned an estimated $14.8 million to top the weekend, while 'Flags of Our Fathers' floundered [with just $10.2 million in tickets sold] and ' Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" [in 12th place with $3,.2 million] scared up strong business in 3-D...

Here's Gray's full report...

Over at Variety, Ian Mohr had this headline:

'Prestige' makes magic at B.O.

Fall is upon us: Three serious-minded pics with awards aspirations were tops at the B.O. over the weekend.

...Disney's "Prestige" conjured $14.8 million from 2,281 playdates for a per-engagement average of $6,496.

Mouse House distribution exec Chuck Viane said that older auds made up roughly a third of "The Prestige" turnout, adding that the pic benefited from positive reviews, as well as a following for "Batman Begins" helmer Nolan.

"Departed," from Warner Bros., meanwhile, slid just 28% in its third frame. Star-studded cop drama added $13.6 million over the weekend to hit $77.1 million, and is now on track to become Scorsese's highest-grossing film ever. Pic is playing in just over 3,000 precincts.

Paramount is taking a slow-and-steady approach with "Flags," which the studio unfurled at 1,876 in an attempt to mirror the perfs of previous Eastwood pics, "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby." WWII epic planted $10.2 million for a healthy per engagement average of $ $5,437.

Perf of "Flags" -- co-produced by Par and DreamWorks -- was on par with that of Eastwood's 2003 effort "Mystic River," which opened on 1,470 to take in $10.4 million on its way to $90 million-plus.

"Million Dollar Baby" bowed in 2004 at 2,000, nailing a $12.3 million first frame before wrapping up $100.5 million and a best pic Oscar.

According to exit polls, 80% of "Flags" auds were over 30 -- a demo that doesn't typically run to the movies in their opening frames -- and 55% were men.

Par, meanwhile, is undecided how much it will expand "Flags" next frame: [President] of worldwide marketing Rob Moore said the studio would be pow-wowing with Eastwood -- who has been hands-on in all "Flags" decisions -- on Monday morning to mull any immediate expansion.

"Clint Eastwood tends to have an older audience," Moore said. "And this will play like 'Mystic River' and be driven by critical acclaim." He added that "Departed," which is benefiting from solid word of mouth, may have stolen some of the Eastwood pic's potential auds over the frame.

"There's no question that 'Departed' appeals to a significant core of our audience," he said. "With its subject matter, it did start out younger. But there's plenty of capacity in the marketplace now to support both."....

I think it's interesting that Gray calls "Flags" performance "floundering", while Mohr says that it was a "solid" showing--looking at the same data.

Finally, Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly called the entire weekend "sluggish" for his weekend wrap-up: New releases get off to a shaky start, while "The Departed" holds strong...