Box Office Review: Welcome to Lakeview Terrace--now die!

Sam Jackson stalks yet another big payday in an otherwise forgettable movie. | Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Samuel L. Jackson continues to prove he's at least a decent box-office draw as his presence lifted the rote thriller Lakeview Terrace to the top of this weekend's box-office heap ($15.6M). Last week's winner, the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, had a strong second week (slipping less than 50%) to finish a respectable but distant second ($11.3M/$36.4M). Audiences correctly avoided the awful My Best Friend's Wedding ($8.3M), fueling optimism that a final stake has been driven into the heart of Dane Cook's Nosferatu-like career. The animated Igor was expected to do just okay business which is pretty much what it did ($8M).

The formulaic Pacino/DeNiro, uh, "movie?" Righteous Kill managed to edge ($7.7M/$28.8M) Tyler Perry's moronic The Family That Preys ($7.5M/$28.3M) for fifth place. After that it was The Women ($5.3M/$19.2M), the weekend's final newcomer Ghost Town ($5.1M), the seemingly immortal The Dark Knight ($2.9M/$521.9M) and the persistent The House Bunny ($2.8M/$45.7M). The limited release crowd was led by Keira Knightley in The Duchess ($29,000 per screen) and Ed Harris in Appaloosa ($18,429 per).