The only new film debuting at the American box office, Warner Bros.' remake of the J-Horror film One Missed Call (Chakusin Ari) surpassed expectations by averaging over $6,000 per venue at 2,240 theaters to earn an estimated $13.5 million and finish in fifth place during a surprisingly robust first weekend of 2008 that topped the first frame of 2007 by a solid 16%. With the assistance of a savvy TV ad campaign One Missed Call easily surpassed the under $10 million estimates that most industry analysts had predicted. Media Blasters has released a deluxe two-disk DVD of Takashi Miike's Chakusin Ari (one of his best and most accessible films, see 'One Missed Call Remake in January'), and Dark Horse has published a manga version of the two One Missed Call movies.
Once again National Treasure: Book of Secrets topped the charts (with an estimated $20.2 million), with Will Smith's potent version of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend in second place. In four weeks I Am Legend has brought in over $228 million domestically and is already over $400 million worldwide. The indie comedy/drama Juno shot up to #3 and cemented its status as the likely number one independent release of 2007. Juno has the potential to go well over $100 million (especially if star Ellen Page should get an Oscar). Alvin and the Chipmunks, which has already earned over $176 million, finished a very close fourth
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The expensive fantasy film The Golden Compass slipped to #14 and earned $2.7 million bringing its domestic cumulative to an estimated $65.5 million in five weeks. The film should finish with around $70 to $75 million, a far cry from the $180 million it took to produce the film -- but it is doing well overseas.
