Box Office Review: Audience taste trapped in 10,000 B.C.

Actor struggles to look afraid in face of bad SFX | Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

Despite a critical reception that could charitably be called awful, 10,000 B.C. rolled to the top of the box office this weekend, taking in $35.7M. Fellow newcomer (and fellow terrible movie) College Road Trip finished a distant second with $14M, almost twice that of the resilient Vantage Point ($7.5M/$51.6M). Semi-Pro sunk in its second weekend ($5.9M/$24.8M) but still managed to top the superb The Bank Job ($5.7M).

Hold-overs staked out the rest of the top 10: The Spiderwick Chronicles ($4.8M/$61.7M), The Other Boleyn Girl ($4M/$14.6M), Jumper ($3.7M/$72.5M), Step Up 2 the Streets ($3M/$53M) and Fool's Gold ($2.8M/$62.8M). In limited release, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day did reasonably good business ($2.5M/$4749 per theater). CJ7 ($2163) and Married Life ($4044) didn't fare so well, though Paranoid Park did okay in only 2 theaters ($15,350). The weekend's final new entrant, Snow Angels, posted above-average numbers ($7000).