Posted: Sat., Mar. 14, 2009, 9:05am PT

'Mountain' tops Friday box office

'Watchmen' falls to new releases

Two 1970s remakes weighed down on "Watchmen" in its second Friday as Disney’s Dwayne Johnson adventure "Race to Witch Mountain" notched first with $6.7 million followed by Universal/Rogue’s "The Last House on the Left" which reaped $5.6 million.

Warner Bros./Paramount's comic book epic "Watchmen" fell 78% from its opening day landing third Friday with an estimated $5.4 million from 3,611 theaters. Pic’s eight-day cume currently stands at $73.3 million.

While "Last House" shaved away the R-rated male crowd from "Watchmen" yesterday, the odds of the Zack Snyder film taking second are contingent on the power of its 124 Imax playdates as well as repeat business from fanboys.

Meanwhile, the reteaming of Johnson with helmer Andy Fickman, who both collaborated on the 2007 Disney sleeper comedy "The Game Plan," proved similar B.O. results: the first day for "Race to Witch Mountain" was slightly higher than the $6.3 million cumed by "Game Plan" which went on to ring up $23 million in its opening weekend. Playing at 3,187 engagements, "Race to Witch Mountain" is a reimagination of the Mouse House’s ‘70s family franchise.

Based on Wes Craven’s 1972 directorial debut, "The Last House on the Left" charted a per site average $2,324 from 2,401 engagements. Much like Craven’s 2006 redux "The Hills Have Eyes," "Last House" bills the horror multi-hyphenate as a producer while helming duties have been left to fresh blood. In the case of "Last House," it is Dennis Iliadis whose previous directing credit was the 2004 indie "Hardcore."

Fox’s January opener "Taken" remained unstoppable in the day’s top five, dipping 10% from a week ago with $2.1 off 2,858. In its seventh Friday, "Taken" has amassed $122.3 million.

Lionsgate’s "Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail" placed fifth with $1.5 million off 2,203, a 32% decline and a running cume in its fourth Friday of $80 million.

Fox Atomic’s raunchy comedy "Miss March," the day’s third wide release distributed by Fox, placed outside the top five with $871,000 off 1,742.

Opening at four sites was the 2008 Sundance entry "Sunshine Cleaning" starring Emily Blunt, Amy Adams and Alan Arkin. The Overture Films release posted a notable $14,742 per theater for a day’s haul of $59,000.




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