Pamela McClintock of Variety:
DreamWorks/Paramount's thriller "Eagle Eye" scored the best opening since summer in grossing an estimated $29.2 million at the domestic box office from 3,510 runs.
The casualty of the weekend was Spike Lee's World War II film "Miracle St. Anna," which opened to a disappointing $3.5 million from 1,185 runs to come in only No. 9.
Otherwise, the box office was generally robust, even with Friday night's presidential debate and the economic crisis.
"Eagle Eye" easily topped the box office chart, while Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures' Diane Lane-Richard Gere romantic drama "Nights in Rodanthe" place No. 2 in its bow, grossing an estimated $13.6 million from 2,704 runs, according to Rentrak.
Samuel Goldwyn's Christian-theme pic "Fireproof" was the surprise of the weekend in grossing an estimated $6.5 million from only 839 theaters and coming in No. 4.
Sony holdover "Lakeview Terrace" came in No. 3 in its second sesh, declining 53% to an estimated $7 million from 2,467 theaters for a cume of $25.7 million in its first 10 days.
Focus Features' "Burn After Reading" continued to do well, declining 44% in its third frame to an estimated $6.2 million from 2,649 for a cume of $45.5 million.
Exodus Films and MGM's holdover toon "Igor" benefited from being the only fresh family film in the marketplace, declining only 30% in its second weekend to an estimated $5.5 million from 2,341 for a cume of $14.3 million.
"Eagle Eye," toplining Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, solidifies LaBeouf's box office appeal. The last film to score a bigger opening was Universal's "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," which debuted to roughly $40 million over the Aug. 1-3 weekend.
"Eagle Eye" nabbed a per screen average of $8,319, while "Fireproof" enjoyed a per location average of $7,764.
"Fireproof," toplining Kirk Cameron ("Growing Pains"), saw the strongest opening for a faith-based film in recent memory. Goldwyn aggressively marketing the film to church groups, including word-of-mouth screening. Cameron also has his own ministry, "The Way of the Master," which he co-founded in 2002.
On the specialty side, Paramount Vantage's "The Duchess" and Warner Bros.' "Appaloosa" both remained players in their second frames. "Duchess" grossed an estimated $570,000 from 55 locations for a per screen average of $10,364 and cume of $836,932. "Appaloosa" grossed an estimated $145,00 from 14 locations for a per location of $10,357 and cume of $478,702.
Fox Searchlight saw disappointing results for Anjelica Houston-Sam Rockwell pic "Choke," which opened to an estimated $1.3 million from 435 runs for a per screen average of $3,069.
Nicole Sperling of EW:
The Shia LaBeouf thriller flew above the competition this weekend with a $29 million box office haul...
Shia's on a roll his last 4 flicks have opened in the top spot but will fans follow him if he steps away from his comfort zone to do a dramatic film?
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