Boogeyman spooks to top box-office spot

The hunger for horror films seems to be so huge that it doesn't worry the audiences if a film has no stars or a big name director.

Revolving around a young man's attempt to solve the mystery of a childhood incident that has given him countless nightmares, Boogeyman stood at the top spot on the US box-office.

The newly minted hit easily ate into last week's champ Hide And Seek's box-office, pushing the Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning film to fourth position on the chart. No marquee names and yet the $7 million Boogeyman with its $19.5 million gross would be profitable in less than 10 days.

Most big starrers have to wait for at least a month to break even because of their higher production and marketing costs. Even if Boogeyman were to suffer a big fall the next week, it could still end its run with $50 million.

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Boogeyman was followed by the okayish debut for the comedy Wedding Date, which made $11 million.

Like Boogeyman, Wedding Date was also made on a low budget ($15 million). The movie, starring Debra Messing -- the Emmy-winning star of Will & Grace -- is about a woman who gets attached to a male escort (Dermot Mulroney) she had hired to impress her family.

Calling Wedding Date 'a witless, stale and half-hearted rehash of clichés,' Lou Lumenick of the New York Post wondered what kind of appeal the film would ever have.

But USA Today's Mike Clark was clearly over reacting when he wrote, 'dirges will likely to be playing when the box-office grosses are reported.'

The movie is not a smash hit but it has opened bigger than expected. Given its low budget, it will make a profit even if it were to come down by about 50 percent in the coming weeks. With the receipts from DVD sales and international grosses, Wedding Date is bound to be a winner.

Still having a hearty laugh, the Ice Cube hit Are We There Yet? grossed $10.4 million, its three week's earnings reaching $51.1 million. This is another film that flew past the modest expectations of box-office analysts.

Hide And Seek dropped sharply, by 59 percent, surprising industry observers. Though horror and sci-fi movies drop by about 50 percent in the second week, box-office analysts had thought the presence of De Niro might produce a smaller decline. The film psyched $8.9 million over the weekend and its gross reached $35.8 million. For a $30 million film, Hide And Seek is doing well.

The Oscar-bound Million Dollar Baby finished out the top five films, grossing $8.8 million and amassing $34.7 million. At the current rate of attrition, the Clint Eastwood meditation on boxing, life and death is headed for a decent $60 million gross. With a few top Oscars, it could reach at least $75 million.

Another hot contender, The Aviator grossed $5.5 million at the sixth place and saw its total soar to $75.9 million. Though the movie has not yet acquired hit status -- mainly because of its $110-$120 million cost -- it has displayed firm legs at the box-office. If it wins a couple of major Oscars, it is bound to fly beyond $100 million.

The other De Niro hit film (in fact, a monster hit), Meet The Fockers is still enjoying a great run. At the seventh position on the chart, the film is heading for a solid $275 million gross in North America.

The quirky comedy Sideways grossed $4.8 million and with a $47 million total gross, it has firmly set its eyes on a $60 million prize. For a film that cost about $16 million, Sideways is on its way to become one of the most profitable films of the past year.

Director Alexander Payne needed a star of Jack Nicholson's stature to guide his previous film About Schmidt to a hit status. The acclaimed film cost about $30 million and grossed $65 million in North America in 2003. But Sideways, which cost about $15 million and has no stars, could be a bigger success, not just by way of the gross but also the number of admissions.

Other Oscar nominees continued growing, though some like Hotel Rwanda are progressing outside the top 10 list.

A heartfelt drama of one man's courage in fighting a genocide, Hotel Rwanda added more than 400 screens over the weekend taking its total to 823 screens. The film, with a mesmerising performance by Don Cheadle as the seemingly ordinary manager whose life slowly turns heroic, scored a decent $2.5 million and its income reached $11.4 million. It was at number 12 on the chart. It may add a few more theatres next week and has a good chance of getting into the top 10.

The modestly budgeted film (about $15 million) has another extraordinary performance by Sophie Okonedo as the conscience-keeper wife of the hotel manager. Though it has performed respectably so far, it has a long way to go before it breaks even. It has to earn about $40 million in ticket and video sales before it makes a profit.

The Johnny Depp starring comic melodrama Finding Neverland, which was on its way out before the Oscar nominations were announced, continues to perform well and with $39.5 million grossed so far, it can easily reach $50 million even without the help of an Oscar.