This week the leader on the per theater chart was also the leader of the overall box office chart as Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa opened with a very impressive average of $15,559 in more than 4,000 theaters. Second place went to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which opened with $250,000 in 17 theaters for an average of $14,887, suggesting at least some potential to expand. The Alphabet Killer was a surprise entry in the $10,000 club, as it earned $11,000 in its lone theater in Rochester, New York. Likewise, JCVD made an impressive debut with just over $20,000 in 2 theaters for an average of $10,060.

There were a number of other new releases this week with Pray the Devil Back to Hell doing the best of the rest with $8,227 in one theater. Repo! The Genetic Opera did well with an average of $6,711 in 8 theaters, but I don't think it will expand significantly and Cult status is likely the most it can hope for. This is also true for Otto; Or, Up with Dead People, which opened with $3,456 in one theater. Gardens of the Night and The World Unseen earned nearly identical averages with the former making $3,072 and the latter $3,010. There were two more limited releases this week, but neither reached the Mendoza line, in fact both Ek Vivah Aisa Nhi at $920 and House at $909 failed to reach triple digits.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a couple of Per Theater Chart alumni:

• The Nightmare Before Christmas managed just $1 million during its latest annual release. It was likely hurt by its very recent release on DVD and Blu-ray.
• Happy-Go-Lucky also reached $1 million over the weekend, and it should have little trouble reaching $2 million before long.
• RocknRolla reached $3 million before the weekend and $4 million during the weekend. However, while it will get to $5 million, that will be the last major milestone for this move.
• As expected, Rachel Getting Married had the best weekend of its run, hitting $4 million on Friday and $5 million by Sunday. With this performance, $10 million becomes a lot more likely.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2008-11-11