A trio of R-rated films rounded out the top ten. The long-lasting Western 3:10 to Yuma once again enjoyed the smallest decline in the top ten sliding only 28% to an estimated $3M in its fifth frame for a solid cume of $48.6M for Lionsgate. The Warner Bros. vigilante thriller The Brave One dropped 39% to an estimated $2.3M giving Jodie Foster and her gun $34.3M to date. Mr. Woodcock claimed the ten spot for New Line with an estimated $2M, down 31%, and a new total of $22.3M.
 

The weekend's most notable fireworks came in limited release as the increasingly crowded arthouse scene saw some red hot numbers from awards hopefuls. George Clooney led the way with his legal thriller
Michael Clayton which bowed in only 15 theaters but grossed an estimated $704,000 for an astounding $46,933 average. Powered by strong reviews and starpower from the Oscar-winning actor, the R-rated film is hoping to keep the momentum going when it expands nationally on Friday into more than 2,400 theaters.

A pair of acclaimed filmmakers enjoyed encouraging sophomore expansions with their latest efforts and delivered the next best averages. Wes Anderson's comedy The Darjeeling Limited widened from two New York houses to 19 locations in seven markets and grossed an estimated $553,000 for a powerful $29,099 average. Fox Searchlight will continue to open in more cities over the next two weekends before going nationwide into more than 800 playdates at the end of the month. Ang Lee's NC-17 romantic thriller Lust, Caution also held up very well as it entered new cities. The Focus release went from a solo Manhattan house to 17 venues and collected an estimated $369,000 for a potent $21,696 average. Totals stand at $$477,000 for Lust and $781,000 for Darjeeling.
 

Also expanding and still generating good averages in their third frames were Sean Penn's Into the Wild and Brad Pitt's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Paramount Vantage widened Wild from 33 to 135 houses and grossed an estimated $1.3M for an impressive $9,593 average. Warner Bros. made a leap from five to 61 locations with Jesse and made off with an estimated $408,000 for a respectable $6,689 average. Cumes are $2.5M and $746,000 respectively and each film will continue to add more cities and theaters in the weeks ahead.
 

Not faring well in its national expansion was the drama The Jane Austen Book Club which grossed an estimated $1.5M from 1,232 sites for a weak $1,247 average. Last weekend, the Sony Classics release averaged $4,700 from only 41 venues. Total sits at $2M.

Three films fell out of the top ten over the weekend. The Focus mob thriller Eastern Promises dipped 33% to an estimated $2M giving the David Cronenberg David Cronenberg pic $14.3M overall. A decent $20M final seems likely which would put it about one-third below the $31.5M of the director's last film A History of Violence which also starred Viggo Mortensen.

Sony's Beatles-themed musical feature Across the Universe continued to have great legs easing a mere 8% in its fourth outing to an estimated $1.9M. With $8M in the bank from limited release, the Julie Taymor-directed pic goes wide on Friday into more than 700 sites. Universe joins the music-themed films Hairspray and Once as movies with some of the best legs at the box office over the last several months. But it was a sad tune for Universal's teen comedy Sydney White which tumbled 49% to an estimated $1.3M for a weak total of just $10.2M. Look for a poor $13M finish.
 

The top ten films grossed a disappointing estimate of $61.9M which was down a substantial 37% from last year when The Departed debuted in first place with $26.9M; and off 23% from 2005 when Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit opened in the top spot with $16M.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com