September 9-11 Box Office

"The Exorcism of Emily Rose" ran away and hid with the title this weekend, not only cracking $30 million, but also being the only film to earn more than $10 million this weekend. The film's opening weekend was also the third strongest September opening since numbers started being tracked.

Top 10 (courtesy Box Office Mojo):

1 The Exorcism of Emily Rose $30,200,000
2 The 40-Year-Old Virgin $7,901,000
3 Transporter 2 $7,200,000
4 The Constant Gardener $4,854,000
5 Red Eye $4,600,000
6 The Man $4,025,000
7 The Brothers Grimm $3,314,000
8 Wedding Crashers $3,225,000
9 Four Brothers $2,950,000
10 March of the Penguins $2,525,000

"The Man", starring Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy was savaged by critics and moviegoers avoided the film in droves. More proof that, despite the fact that Sam Jackson is one of the greatest character actors in movies today, he cannot open a bad movie on strength of name alone.

Big crash and burn for Virgin, Transporter, Red Eye and Brothers Grimm, as each film's revenue was over 40% lower compared to last week. Despite this, Emily Rose's opening powered the weekend to buck the trend of under-performing weekends seen through most of the summer. Box Office receipts were up 16% compared to the same weekend in 2004.

Opening wide next week: Just Like Heaven, a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage.