God is Big Box Office

It came as no surprise to anyone that the new fantasy comedy “Evan Almighty” came in at number one for this weekend’s box office, but the real head-turner was just how well the horror/suspense film “1408” did.

“Evan Almighty,” starring “The Office” and The 40-Year Old Virgin’s Steve Carell clocked in with over $32 million in U.S. theaters. The film is a sequel to the Jim Carrey flick “Bruce Almighty,” however, this one was minus the manic comic. That didn’t hurt the film any as Carell easily held his own as Evan Baxter, newsman turned congressman who is called upon by God, again perfectly cast with Morgan Freeman as the Supreme Being, to build another Ark because he is going to flood the Earth again — I guess the Big Kahoona forgot his earlier promise to Noah to never do that again — it was, afterall, a long, long time ago. I can’t even remember what I said yesterday, so we can cut God some slack here.

Coming in second, close on Evan’s robe-tails is the highly suspenseful thriller, “1408,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack. This movie, about a man (John Cusack) who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences, decides to check into the fabled and notorious room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Ignoring the stern warnings from the hotel’s head manager, beautifully played by Jackson, he enters the room, locks the door behind him and is very quickly confronted with unimaginable and genuine terror. “1408” may well turn out to be this year’s most gripping thriller.

In at third is the second weekend run of “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” In the fourth spot is “Ocean’s 13.” I think I will have to see this one just for the amazing cast from the other two films and the addition of the great Al Pacino and the utterly stunning and flipped out Ellen Barkin. Rounding out the top 5 earners for this weekend is “Knocked Up,” the comedy that simply refuses to give up. After three weeks it still managed to pull in another impressive $11 million dollars this weekend.

We will have the final Top 10 films for you later in the week.