27 April: There was no stopping the giant Horton at the kiwi box office who nearly doubled its nearest opponent this week with a modest 715k. The first animated Dr Seuss film has scored with both critics and the young ones with its bright and lush world and team of excellent comics voicing the fun and loveable characters. Positive word of mouth and one more week of school holidays positions Horton well to hold on to the top spot next week however this weeks number two has shown a solid improvement from its debut week and promises more.
As mentioned last week, the Spiderwick Chronicles did get the jump on others titles by releasing it before the holiday break and due to its word of mouth managed to boost its takings by a whopping 65% in its second week of release holding on to the number 2 spot for the second week in a row. It seemed to be regarded as the best of the bunch and catered for a wider audience than other films targeted for the school kids during their break.
Coming in at number 3 was the only flick opening this week dedicated for the young male adults crowd, Street Kings, starring Keanu Reeves and oscar winner Forrest Whittaker. With a respectable 286k it amassed a very impressive 8,187 per screen average only second to Lars and the Real Girl.
Fourth and fifth positions went to two new comers dedicated to the tween and teen girl markets as Nim’s Island just beat out St Trinian’s by 25k neither getting much praise by critics or its viewers. The final of the new entrants was College Road Trip which didn’t find its crowd and finished with a dismal 114k in 9th spot as it seemed movie goers had much better choices this week.
Of note of the others, last weeks champion Semi-Pro dropped 5 places but only fell 22% which should hold over well for next week, meanwhile Lars and the Real Girl backed up its promising first week by collecting 22% more adding 5 extra locations. Rambo copped a hiding losing a huge 77% of its audience last week due to two thirds of its play dates being removed. No Country for Old Men also dropped a third of its screens as it marches towards the 1 million dollar mark.

Next week, flying into cinemas it’s the second spoof film of the year – Super Hero Movie just in time for the teens with too much time on their hands. Considering Meet the Spartans unusual success earlier this year Super Hero should do well – third to fifth spot? It will have some competition as another teen orientated movie vying for a top spot will be headed by Amanda Bynes in Sydney White which should settle in 7th to 9th position. Billed as the concert event of all time, U2 in 3D should top average screens but may fall short on the chart as it won’t have many theatres able to play it. Meanwhile something for the more mature adults is being released finally in New Zealand this week, The Painted Veil which stars Naomi Watts and Edward Norton.

REVIEWS ADDED THIS WEEK: [Super Hero Movie] [The Spiderwick Chronicles] [Nim's Island]

21 April: WEEKEND NUMBERS ARE IN!!! Horton dissapoints! Street Kings & Spiderwick impress, Trinian's and Nim both fall short and College Road Trip is a bomb!

REVIEWS ADDED LAST WEEK: [Street Kings] [Horton Hears a Who] [Lars and the Real Girls] [Definately, Maybe] [Never Back Down] [The Eye] [Gone Baby Gone] [3:10 to Yuma] [Vantage Point] [Step up 2 the Streets]