The Covenant Casts Box Office Spell

In one of the lowest box office returns in recent years, The Covenant stole the top of the box office from Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg, claiming number one with around $9 million, according to early estimates. The Covenant, with almost no "brand name" actors, is about a group of teenagers with supernatural powers and wasn't screened for critics. Hollywoodland claimed second place with $6 million. Hollywoodland is about an investigation into the death of George Reeves, played by Ben Affleck, whose suicide was seen as suspicious by some. The film, with much bigger names than The Covenant, also stars Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, and Bob Hoskins. Hollywoodland debuted on 1,000 screens less than The Covenant and could lay claim to the highest per screen average in the top ten even if that was just $3,881, a number that could be seen as disappointing in the prime movie-going months of the summer..

After two weeks at the top, Mark Wahlberg's inspirational sports movie, Invincible dropped two places to third with $5.7 million and an impressive $45.7 million to date. The third debut title of the week, Tony Jaa's The Protector, didn't make much of an impact, debuting with only $5 million on around 1,500 screens. Because of its small amount of screens, no one expected The Protector to take the top of the throne, but its per screen fell below both Hollywoodland and The Illusionist, something Tony Jaa can't be too happy about.

Crank, the Jason Statham action vehicle, dropped 54% to fifth place and only $4.8 million in its second weekend and just under $20 million to date. Considering its budget is projected around $12 million, the domestic return so far is good, but still a little underperforming for Statham's action crowd, many of whom may have been kept from the theater due to the film's R rating. The Illusionist expanded a bit and won the title of the lowest drop, falling only 25% to sixth place and a $4.6 million weekend. The film has to be considered a win for the fledgling Yari Film Group as its already crossed $18 million and looks like it still has a little ways to go.

The top ten were rounded out by indie success Little Miss Sunshine taking home another $4.4 million (with an amazing $41+ million to date), The Wicker Man plummeting to $4.1 million and under $18 million to date, Talladega Nights finding another $3 million to add to its $142 million total, and Barnyard hanging on for an impressive sixth week to bring in another $2.6 million and almost $67 million to date (a solid indication that there's not a lot of competition out there for the children's dollar - it's the only kid's movie in the top ten and being last in the summer children's movie race may have been a smart business move on Paramount's part).

The box office needs a push and two major titles open this week, trying to claim the top of the charts title. Brian De Palma's biggest film in years, The Black Dahlia, starring Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Hillary Swank, and Scarlett Johansson drops on around 2,000 screens, but will likely have to give way to the 3,200 screen plus count of The Rock's Gridiron Gang, a safe bet to take the top of next week's chart. The animated Everyone's Hero and Zach Braff vehicle The Last Kiss should do well by their own standards but not play too much of a role at the top of next week's list.

[Sources: MTV, Box Office Mojo]