Box Office: Game Plan $22.2M; Kingdom $17.2M; Darjeeling And Lust, Caution Open Huge!

Much of the industry had predicted THE KINGDOM would win the weekend.  I predicted an upset for THE GAME PLAN, and, as it turns out, it will coast to an easy 3-day win. DARJEELING LIMITED has opened huge Saturday with almost $37,000 per location and Ang Lee's LUST, CAUTION picked up another $23,000 at its single NYC engagement. Here's an overview...

SATURDAY NIGHT: After scoring a narrow box office win over The Kingdom (Universal) on Friday, The Game Plan (Buena Vista) has turned it into a good old-fashioned "blow-out". While the Peter Berg-directed thriller saw a 13% or so uptick from opening day, Disney's gridiron family comedy received a huge "kiddie bounce."

The Game Plan starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has surged to an estimated $9.87M on Saturday, and it will likely wrap up the weekend with $22.24M or so. For Johnson, this is a greater feat than any of his pro wrestling championships. The Rock has real box office muscle. If that number holds, it'll mark the 3rd-best opening of his young movie career, trailing only The Scorpion King ($36M), a CGI-driven Mummy sequel, and Be Cool ($23.4M), an ensemble comedy with several bigger names including John Travolta.

The big budget Saudi-set Universal action picture, with a cast that includes Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner, is a bit of a disappointment. The Kingdom added $6.6M on Saturday, and it should manage to reach an estimated $17.23M, but that's well under industry expectations. Zombie sequel Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony) crawled to about $3.26M on its 2nd Saturday, and it'll lumber to a likely $7.49M by Monday morning, putting it just over $36M in its first 10 days of release. Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate), with an estimated $5.75M, and 3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate), with about $3.9M, should round out the weekend Top 5.

The Wes Anderson comedy The Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight) opened on 2 screens in New York City on Saturday, and there can't have been many empty seats. On 3 screens at the Regal Cinemas Union Square 14 and 1 screen at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square, the India-set comedy starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman has generated a Per Location Average of just over $36,728. The unorthodox Saturday opening will allow Darjeeling Limited to coast to a relatively easy 3-day PTA win with an estimated $66,750 per.

At #2 in the PTA race is Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (Focus Features), which has its only engagement, on 2 screens, at New York City's Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on the Upper West Side. The Venice Film Festival winner is playing to near capacity houses and has delivered about $23,000 in sales on its 2nd day, and the Chinese language noir thriller is headed for a weekend PTA of just over $61,000.

Sean Penn's Into the Wild from Paramount Vantage expanded to 33 locations, and the adventure drama is showing real box office drawing power. At the end of Sunday business, it will have posted an excellent $600,000 3-day and a 3-day PTA of nearly $19,000 per location.

EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS REVISED 3-DAY ESTIMATES

1. NEW – The Game Plan (Buena Vista) – $22.24M – $7,170 PTA – $22.24M cume

2. NEW â€" The Kingdom (Universal) – $17.23M – $6,171 PTA – $17.23M cume

3. Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony) â€" $7.49M – $2,649 PTA – $36.2M cume

4. Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate) – $5.75M – $2,205 PTA – $23M cume

5. 3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) – $3.88M – $1,456 PTA – $43.6M cume

6. The Brave One (Warner Bros) â€" $3.65M – $1,328 PTA – $30.7M cume

7. Eastern Promises (Focus Features) â€" $3.2M â€" $2,275 PTA – $11.5M cume

8. Mr. Woodcock (New Line) â€" $2.86M – $1,306 PTA – $19.4M cume

9. Sydney White (Universal) – $2.7M – $1,284 PTA – $8.5M cume

10. Across the Universe (Sony) – $1.98M – $5,865 PTA – $5.4M cume

*NEW – Feast of Love (MGM) – $1.7M – $1,418 PTA – $1.7M cume

*In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent) – $1.48M – $1,946 PTA – $3.4M cume

*Transformers (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $1.13M – $2,231 PTA – $315.1M cume

*Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage) – $619,000 – $18,800 PTA – $917,000 cume

*The Jane Austen Book Club (Sony Classics) – $161,200 – $4,032 PTA – $374,000 cume

*NEW â€" Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight) – $133,500 – $66,750 PTA – $133,500

*NEW â€" Trade (IDP Films) – $102,000 – $1,129 PTA – $102,000 cume

*The Assassination of Jesse James… (Warner Bros) – $87,500 – $17,500 PTA – $296,000 cume

*NEW â€" Lust, Caution (Focus Features) – $61,600 – $61,600 PTA – $61,600 cume

*NEW – Sharkwater (Freestyle Releasing) – $30,000 – $495 PTA – $30,000 cume

*NEW â€" Outsourced (Lantern Lane Entertainment) – $17,000 – $2,111 PTA – $17,000 cume

*NEW â€" The Price of Sugar (Mitropoulos Films) – $3,433- $3,433 PTA – $3,433 cume

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