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    'Express,' 'Quarantine' Climb Into Multiplex Over Leo's Dead 'Body'

    Leonardo DiCaprio's Sinking Ship 'Body of Lies' Readies the Lifeboats

    read more: #beverlyhillschihuahua, #bodyoflies, #quarantine, #mondaymorningboxoffice, #top, #defamer

    Yappy 'Chihuahua' Insurgency Holds Its Ground

    It might be a holiday for some of you, but even on Columbus Day, the whip cracks for the number-crunchers and trend-spotters at Defamer HQ. Their work today yields the surprising latest installment of Monday Morning Box Office, in which a low-budget thriller surprised even its own studio and Leonardo DiCaprio is furious after stomping out a flaming bag of chihuahua crap. Read on for the details.

    1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua — $17.5 million

    Disney unleashed its vast canine army for a second straight week, prompting mad scientists at competing studios to commence top-secret experiments to engineer another, equally lucrative breed. Word on the street has Miramax taking the early lead with Tribeca Guard Dog, the story of a vicious German Shepherd named Henrik who unexpectedly finds love with a pug who persuades him to let her owner out of captivity in a dank Manhattan editing facility. Scott Rudin will produce, natch.

    2. Quarantine — $14.2 million

    The stunning opening gross for Sony's horror film exceeded its budget by $2 million, thus inheriting the B-schlock mantle from the retiring Saw franchise and guaranteeing another five years of sloppy, utterly forgettable viral marketing. Well done, America.

    3. Body of Lies — $13.1 million

    We never thought we could be accused of being too generous to Ridley Scott's spy-flick folly, but there you have it.

    4. Eagle Eye — $11.1 million

    The Shia LaBeouf thriller sustained exceedingly well in its third weekend, dropping less than 40% percent and inspiring DreamWorks to scour the Hitchcock canon for the third thinly veiled Gen-X updating between their young star and director D.J. Caruso. The front-runner to date: Nutso, one of Hollywood's hottest unproduced scripts, which would feature Shia as a rural motel proprietor on the outs with his mysterious, Klonopin-addled stepmother. A green light is forthcoming as soon as the judge lifts the injunction.

    5. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist — $6.5 million

    Continuing a new tradition, expect the disappointed producers of The Express — the highly touted footbal biopic that nevertheless finished a distant sixth behind Playlist — to launch an inquiry into ticket fraud and other Michael Cera-inspired box-office shenanigans by the end of the day.


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