Playing to its usual numbers and same audience, Saw IV, the fourth installment in the brutal horror series, led the weekend box office, taking in $32.1 million, almost identical to the last two in the series.
Saw II opened to $31.7 million and Saw III opened to $33.6 million. Basically that tells Lionsgate that their audience for the movie is locked in. It won't be growing, but it won't be declining much either. That means we'll probably be seeing these every year for the next seasons ahead.
The low budget for this series enables it to be put out year after year, as the first three have already earned about $420 million globally, with only a $30 million investment. Combine that with Lionsgates work with Tyler Perry, and you can see they're building their business on the low budget, but built-in audience faire the two franchises represent.
The second place finisher this weekend was "Dan in Real Life" starring Steve Carell. It debuted in less than 2,000 theaters, so the $12.1 million wasn't too bad for that low count. It averaged about $6,289 per venue. Carell will have to succeed sometime soon in his movies or he'll be considered more of a TV actor for the rest of his career.
Last week's number one film ended in the third spot, with 30 Days of Night, more scare fare for the weekend, dropped big, taking in only $6.7 million, a big 58 percent drop from its opener. With costs for the film only $30 million, and bringing in $27.3 million domestically so far, it should do good financially for Sony.
In its fifth weekend, the family film "The Game Plan" is still hanging around in fourth place, adding another $6.3 million to its overall take. That brings their total to $77.1 million, and has an outside chance at $100 million if it continues to hold strong.
Top ten for weekend:
| 1 | Saw IV | $32,110,000 |
| 2 | Dan in Real Life | $12,081,000 |
| 3 | 30 Days of Night | $6,700,000 |
| 4 | The Game Plan | $6,257,000 |
| 5 | Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married | $5,740,000 |
| 6 | Michael Clayton | $5,030,000 |
| 7 | Gone Baby Gone | $3,900,000 |
| 8 | The Comebacks | $3,450,000 |
| 9 | We Own the Night | $3,400,000 |
| 10 | Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D (2007 re-issue) | $3,347,000 |
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