Shutter Island Scored #1 For 2nd Consecutive Week

Unlike the Oscar-winning hit The Departed, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's new crime thriller Shutter Island enjoyed back-to-back weekends at number one fending off competition from a pair of new releases with respectable debuts. The police comedy Cop Out bowed in second while the horror remake The Crazies premiered in third as the overall box office remained strong showing healthy gains over last year.

Paramount once again claimed the top spot with Shutter Island which dropped only 46% in its second weekend to an estimated $22.2M. The R-rated mystery still boasted the best per-theater average of any film in wide release with $7,393 from 3,003 sites. The total after ten days is a solid $75.1M. Budgeted at $75M, Shutter could find its way to roughly $125M from North America alone. The Departed, the previous collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, opened at number one in October 2006 but fell to second in its sophomore frame losing the weekend to The Grudge 2. But it did have a smaller drop declining by just 29% on its way to a $132.4M final.

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan took second place with their new action-comedy Cop Out which opened to an estimated $18.6M over the weekend. The Warner Bros. title played in 3,150 theaters averaging a good $5,894 per site from audiences that ignored the poor reviews. The buddy cop flick marked the first film that director Kevin Smith did not also write, and represented his career best opening. Though not a stellar launch, Cop Out did give Willis one of his best debuts for a lead role in recent years following disappointments like Perfect Strangers, 16 Blocks, and Hostage which all opened in the $10-12M range.

Finishing with the bronze was the new fright flick The Crazies which debuted impressively with an estimated $16.5M. The Overture release averaged a strong $6,670 from 2,477 theaters and played to a young male audience. According to exit polls, the R-rated pic about a small town in which residents mysteriously become homicidal maniacs skewed 56% male and 65% under 25. Reviews were quite positive for the $19M production.

Audiences were still flocking to see nine-time Oscar nominee Avatar which eased by a mere 14% to an estimated $14M. The James Cameron smash became the first film in history to crack the $700M mark on Saturday, its 72nd day of release. The mammoth domestic cume is now $706.9M. Overseas markets witnessed a 25% drop to $36.1M boosting the international haul to $1.844 billion which is now more than the entire $1.843 billion global gross for Titanic. Ticket prices, of course, have changed a lot since 12 years ago. Worldwide, Avatar has now banked $2.551 billion with more to come. This Friday, the Pandora pic will lose a significant number of its 3D screens around the world when Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp makes a colorful splash.

Dropping only 36% in its third round was Percy Jackson & The Olympians which took in an estimated $9.8M boosting the cume to $71.2M for Fox. Valentine's Day became the first new release of the new decade to break the $100M mark this weekend. The Warner Bros. release grossed an estimated $9.5M, off 43%, for a $100.4M sum.

Sony's Dear John followed with an estimated $5M, down 30%, with a $72.6M total. The Wolfman suffered the worst decline in the top ten falling 58% to an estimated $4.1M. Cume to date is $57.2M for Universal.

#	Title	Feb 26 - 28			Theaters			Cumulative	Distributor
1	Shutter Island	$ 22,200,000			3,003			$ 75,076,000	Paramount
2	Cop Out	18,565,000			3,150			18,565,000	Warner Bros.
3	The Crazies	16,521,000			2,477			16,521,000	Overture
4	Avatar	14,000,000			2,456			706,905,000	Fox
5	Percy Jackson & The Olympians	9,800,000			3,302			71,215,000	Fox
6	Valentine's Day	9,505,000			3,578			100,358,000	Warner Bros.
7	Dear John	5,000,000			3,006			72,624,000	Sony
8	The Wolfman	4,123,000			3,043			57,244,000	Universal
9	The Tooth Fairy	3,450,000			2,249			53,866,000	Fox
10	Crazy Heart	2,540,000			1,148			25,087,000	Fox Searchlight