US Box Office

Week ending 4 January 2009

Marley & Me extended its Christmas presence at number one into the New Year with $24m. The Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston laugher about a problematic pooch raised its two-week total to $106.5m, giving Wilson his seventh $100m+ release. With no new major releases, there was little change among the Top Ten. Bedtime Stories rested in second spot again, with the Adam Sandler fantasy comedy adding $20.3m to boost its two-week tally to $85.4m.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button nosed into third spot with $18.4m, taking the Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett drama's total to $79m since its Christmas Day release. Valkyrie rode into fourth spot with $14m, giving the Tom Cruise starrer a two-week haul of $60.7m. Yes Man, Seven Pounds and The Tale of Despereaux maintained their positions at five, six and seven with $13.8m, $10m and $7m respectively.

Rank	Film	Weeks Out	Last Weekend	Total
1.	Marley & Me	2	$24.1m	$107m
2.	Bedtime Stories	2	$20.3m	$85.4m
3.	The Curious Case of Bejamin Button	2	$18.4m	$79m
4.	Valkyrie	2	$14m	$60.7m
5.	Yes Man	3	$13.8m	$79.4m
6.	Seven Pounds	3	$10m	$60.3m
7.	The Tale of Despereaux	3	$7m	$43.7m
8.	Doubt	4	$5m	$18.7m
9.	The Day The Earth Stood Still	4	$4.8m	$78.3m
10.	Slumdog Millionaire	8	$4.7m	$28.7m

Doubt moved up two places to eight with $5m, a dip of only 6%. The five-time Golden Globe nominee, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, saw its four-week total rise to $18.7m. The only new entrant in the Top Ten was Slumdog Millionaire which moved up three places to ten with $4.8m following a n 11% upswing. The highly acclaimed Danny Boyle-directed drama took its eight-week total to $28.8m. It also boasted the highest per-screen average in the Top Ten. Its $7,794 at 612 screens bettering even the $6,862 of Marley & Me at 3,505 theaters.

Overall the week's total box office was down 19% on the corresponding period last year when National Treasure: Book of Secrets remained in top spot for a third week running with $20.1m. Up next week is the chick flick Bride Wars starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson as best friends who fall out when a scheduling conflict threatens their weddings. Not Easily Broken, a drama about a married couple facing a conscience of faith, stars Morris Chestnut and Taraji P. Henson. The 2009 horror season gets underway with The Unborn, a supernatural thriller starring Gary Oldman that's written and directed by David Goyer whose writing credits include Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.