There was little ocular strain as audiences focused on the anxiety-raising Eagle Eye with a potent debut estimated at $29.5 million. The weekend leader’s closest competition came from another newcomer, the romantically drenched Nights of Rodanthe that grossed $13.7 million. Two other films bowed nationally with the uplifting drama Fireproof preaching effectively to $6.4 million to rank fourth overall while Spike Lee’s Second World War-set Miracle at St. Anna was commercially MIA with $3.4 million.

New titles opening in limited and regional release were generally soft including the inspirationalForever Strong that bowed in 244 theaters to $250,000 and another independent All Roads Lead Home that tallied to $30,500 from 35 engagements. Slightly better was the unconventional road movie Humbolt County with a $22,700 box office at 10 outposts and Choke, a darkly ironic con game, that totaled up to $1.3 million at 434 locations. The Lucky Ones is the latest victim of the Iraq War with its returning vets holding little ground with a $162,000 gross at 425 venues. Only a couple of non-fiction portraits showed promise in exclusive premieres – the music-themed Wild Combination attracted $11,800 while the political inside Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Storyhad a $5,200 box office.

The onslaught of new titles bolstered the box office by 13% from last week and 11% from one year back. In 2007 the debuts of The Game Plan and The Kingdom topped the charts with respective initial biz of $22.9 million and $17.1 million.

Tracking was strong on Eagle Eye, a nail biter about strangers blackmailed into an assassination plot by a mysterious, disembodied voice. The twisty path to success included 85 Imax engagements that accounted for about 6% of the gross from 2.5% of its commercial bookings. The film pretty much corralled younger and more avid viewers; leaving little room for other incoming product to secure spill over from older target bases.

Still, the bedrock was sufficiently sturdy for Nights at Rodanthe, based on a book by the author of The Notebook and featuring the same sort of passionate longing as Message in a Bottle. The film effectively tapped into an older, distaff audience.

The weekend surprise was Fireproof, a values-oriented saga of a wobbly marriage from the company that made the indie hit Facing the Giants. Marketed via faith-based channels, it largely eluded the radar of mainstream pundits … but not the target crowd. The largely ignored sector has proven to be a sizeable and vocal niche, but its limits were exposed by the head-to-head bow ofForever Strong, which should have found a less competitive berth.

The session also saw an effective expansion of the period drama The Duchess and OK holds for the western saga Appaloosa, which broadens next weekend.

Spike Lee appeared to be recycling the soldiers of Glory with his Second World War black regiment in Miracle of St. Anna. But neither the critics nor the buyers were inspired by the tale. There was an even greater thunderous silence for The Lucky Ones, a generally well reviewed yarn of a trio of Iraq vets on leave from the conflict. There’s no indication that audiences and filmmakers will be in sync on this type of material in the immediate future.

– Leonard Klady

Domestic Market Share – To September 25, 2008

Top Limited Releases – To September 25, 2008

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