May 26, 2012

District 9 Wrestles G.I. Joe

by Elissa Suh | Published August 17, 2009

Summer blockbusters scored big again this weekend at the box office, where the action packed District 9 and G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra held the top spots.

Audiences rushed to the theater to see Neill Blomkamp’s extraterrestrial thriller, which came in at number one. The chilling and politically metaphoric District 9 grossed an even $37 million.

Meanwhile, the less insightful G.I. Joe still managed to find a crowd and placed second, proving that America is full of diehard ‘80s cartoon fanatics—or moviegoers with enough extra cash, time and patience to sit through this laughable feat of a film. G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra grossed $22.5 million, bringing its total gross to a whopping $98.8 million.

The gushy tear-jerker The Time Traveler’s Wife drew a solid crowd (consisting mainly of all the starry-eyed women who read the New York Times bestseller from which the film was based, and their reluctant significant others dragged forcefully against their will), coming in third with a solid $19.2 million.

Landing in fourth place was warm-hearted Julie & Julia with $12.4 million.

Last but not least, everyone’s favorite band of furry rodents still remain strong, as G-Force took the final spot in the top five. Disney’s latest grossed just under $7 million, bringing its total gross to $99 million.

This week audiences can look forward to Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated Inglourious Basterds. Other releases include Post Grad, starring Alexis Bledel, as well as a 1950s Renee Zellweger period piece, My One and Only, opening in limited release. Can these leading ladies give Tarantino and his Basterd army a run for their money? Their chances of survival are slim, but check back next Monday to find out.