Notorious opened in fourth place overall, but in first place on the per theater chart with an average of $12,514, which was just a fraction above The Wrestler and its average of $11,824. Revolutionary Road remained strong earning an average of $10,427 in 171 theaters. The overall number one film, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, was next with $10,125. Finally, Slumdog Millionaire saw amazing growth and returned to the $10,000 Club with $10,050.

None of the new limited release came close to the $10,000 mark with Chandni Chowk to China opening with $4,846, but that's a good start, all things considered. Cherry Blossoms was soft with $3,322. Meanwhile, The Owl and the Sparrow and Ballerina opened with nearly identical averages of $2,772 and $2,656.

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

• The Wrestler hit $5 million over the weekend and it continues to expand.
• Revolutionary Road also reached $5 million over the weekend, and it too continues to expand.
• Last Chance Harvey expanded to more than 1,000 theaters and hit $5 million on Monday.
• Defiance also expanded to more than 1,000 theaters, while it hit $10 million on Monday.
• Milk has now earned $20 million during its run, but it will need some Awards Season wins to get to $25 million.
• As expected, Doubt hit $25 million, while $30 million is not out of the question.
• Slumdog Millionaire has made $40 million in just over two months of release, and with several Golden Globe wins, it is far from done.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2009-01-21