Zac Zaps Box Office

Zac Efron wasn’t the box-office sensation that Miley Cyrus was a week ago, but his 17 Again did trounce all others over the weekend as it debuted to an estimated $24.1 million. (Cyrus’s Hannah Montana: The Movie hauled in $32.3 million last week.) Universal’s State of Play, starring Russell Crowe, opened in second place with about $14.1 million, about what had been expected for it. But Crank: High Voltage, which had not been screened for critics before it opened, displayed little voltage at all, as it grossed around $6.5 million. (Critics insisted the plot had little juice, either. Frank Lovece in Newsweek called it “a joyless slog.” Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times described it as “boorish, bigoted and borderline pornographic.” Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe & Mail concluded: “The movie feels like a form of aversion therapy designed to take the fun out of dumb.”) Nevertheless, the box office continued on its year-long hot streak, with revenue up an estimated 19 percent above the comparable weekend a year ago. “It’s going to be a record year, because we’ve never had a start to a year this strong,” Media by Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian told the Associated Press. “Unless the world goes off its axis and spins into the sun, I don’t see how we’re not going to have a $10 billion year.”

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers:1. 17 Again, $24.1 million; 2. State of Play, $14.1 million; 3. Monsters vs. Aliens, $12.9 million; 4. Hannah Montana: The Movie, $12.7 million; 5. Fast & Furious, $12.3 million; 6. Crank: High Voltage, $6.5 million; 7. Observe and Report, $4.1 million; 8. Knowing, $3.5 million; 9. I Love You, Man, $3.4 million; 10. The Haunting in Connecticut, $3.2 million.