Weekend Box Office: Sept 30 - Oct 2

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Dolphin Tale - $14.2 million

2.  Moneyball - $12.5 million

3.  The Lion King 3D - $11 million

4.  50/50 - $8.85 million

5.  Courageous - $8.8 million

6.  Dream House - $8.2 million

7.  Abduction - $5.65 million

8.  What's Your Number? - $5.6 million

9.  Contagion - $5 million

10.  Killer Elite - $4.8 million

Lions, dolphins...the box office has been ruled by adorable animals the last few weeks, hasn't it?  Dolphin Tale, the family film about a rescued dolphin saved by a prosthetic tail (top, that Free Willy!) managed to jump to the top of an essentially slow box office weekend with $14.2 million, dropping only a mere 25% from last week, when it debuted in third place. 

Where does that leave Simba in all this?  The Lion King 3D dropped to third place with $11 million.  It wasn't even supposed to be in theaters this weekend - Disney extended its run after it topped the box office during its initial two-week return engagement.  The 1994 film, which has grossed $79 million since returning to theaters, will be out on DVD/blu-ray on Tuesday, so this impressive box office run will likely dwindle quickly from here.  Don't be too sad about it.  I have a feeling this won't be the last Disney 3D re-release we'll be seeing, considering how well this one did.

Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, continued to perform well (even with the MLB playoffs in full swing this weekend), dropping only 35% to earn another $12.5 million.  The film has grossed $38.4 million in theaters so far. 

As far as the new releases, Courageous fared the best with $8.8 million.  For those of you wondering the same thing I was ("What the hell is Courageous??"), the film is from Sherwood Pictures, the Christian film production company who produced the similarly-themed Fireproof, and tells the story of police officers dealing with a tragedy.  Made for only $2 million, the Courageous seems to heading for the same kind of success Fireproof had, with screenings fueled by church group trips to the theater to see it.

This weekend's other new releases didn't fare quite as well.  The cancer comedy-drama 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, barely beat out Courageous with $8.85 million, which is below what they were expecting for the weekend.  Daniel Craig's Dream House, which seemed like it was being dumped into theaters this weekend, didn't do much with only $8.2 million.  Despite being endlessly compared to this summer's smash Bridesmaids, the Anna Faris romantic comedy What's Your Number? outright tanked with just $5.6 million. 

Overall, a fairly quiet weekend at the box office.  Next weekend, IMAX theaters will be invaded by Hugh Jackman and a bunch of boxing robots in Real Steel, and Oscar-watchers will get their first look at The Ides of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling.