May 26, 2012

Box Office Goes to Shutter Island

by Rebecca Pahle | Published February 22, 2010

Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo star in Shutter Island (2010).

New release—and Martin Scorsese’s latest—Shutter Island claimed the top spot at the box office this past weekend, earning $40.2 million. Earning less than half as much over the weekend ($17.1 million) was the romantic comedy Valentine’s Day, which took spot number two—looks like after the titular holiday has passed, not too many people are interested in the film. Avatar came in third, earning $16.1 million, bringing its total gross to $687.8 million. Spots four and five went to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief ($15.3 million) and The Wolf Man ($9.8 million), respectively.

Shutter Island was the only film out in wide release this past weekend; out in limited release were Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer, which made $179,000 in just four theaters, Blood Done Sign My Name, The Good Guy and Happy Tears.

Several films are out next week in wide release: Kevin Smith’s Cop Out, as well as The Crazies and Takers. Out in limited release will be Formosa Betrayed, A Prophet, The Yellow Handkerchief and Toe to Toe (a film about two lacrosse players—a sport you don’t see often immortalized on the silver screen, so this could be worth catching).