Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (top); Ewan McGregor in Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer (bottom)
Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, remained the #1 movie in at the North American box office on Monday (Feb. 22), according to Box Office Mojo. The crime thriller grossed a solid $3.33 million for a total of $44.4 million after four days.
As previously reported, Shutter Island is expected to become the highest-grossing Scorsese-DiCaprio effort. Their previous collaborations were Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), and the Oscar-winning The Departed (2006). Also in the Shutter Island cast: Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Haley, and veteran Max von Sydow.
Avatar was #2 with $1.27 million and a dwindling per screen average of $494. James Cameron’s sci-fi adventure is up for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
At #3, Garry Marshall’s all-star Valentine’s Day took in $938K and a low $256 per screen. The romantic comedy stars Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Anne Hathaway, Taylor Lautner, Kathy Bates, Eric Dane, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Carter Jenkins, Hector Alizondo, Jennifer Garner, Taylor Swift, Topher Grace, and others.
Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman, starring Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, was #4 with $742K, followed by Chris Columbus‘ adventure flick Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, starring Logan Lerman, with $717K. At #6, the Channing Tatum-Amanda Seyfried romantic melodrama Dear John earned $428K.
Rounding out the top thirteen were Jeff Bridges‘ Crazy Heart ($257K), the John Travolta-Jonathan Rhys Meyers vehicle From Paris with Love ($222K), Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness ($196K), Dwayne Johnson’s Tooth Fairy (182K), Denzel Washington’s post-apocalyptic drama The Book of Eli ($158K), the Kristen Bell-Josh Duhamel romantic comedy When in Rome ($118K), and Sandra Bullock’s The Blind Side ($109K).
By far the highest per screen average on Monday was that of Roman Polanski’s acclaimed thriller The Ghost Writer — winner of the Best Director Silver Bear in Berlin and currently playing at only four theaters in Los Angeles and New York. The Ghost Writer took in $20K or $5,127 per screen.
Photos: Shutter Island (Andrew Cooper / Paramount); The Ghost Writer (Summit Entertainment)
