It seems if you put men in armor and make a movie all shiny, people will rush out to see it.

The same folks who produced 300 came back with another period film, Immortals, and it did okay, but not exactly the best.  After a $15 million Friday, the domestic gross came in at $32 million for the entire weekend which means it fell off sharply.  It pulled in $36 million internationally this weekend as well which was healthy, but off of a $75 million budget this film has a ways to go.  Comparatively it pulled in less than half of 300‘s $70.9 opening weekend and even Clash of the Titans‘ $61.2 million.

Jack & Jill had the second lowest opening of any Adam Sandler comedy with $26 million.  With no clue on the budget yet we’ll have to see how this performs, but it would seem the luster is finally wearing off of Sandler.

After last week’s surprising second week strength of Puss in Boots there was some speculation that the third weekend would see a huge fall.  Surprisingly it only fell 22.9% and brought in $25.5 million, and could see it land in second place when the final numbers come out.

The  Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy comedy Tower Heist fell 45.1% to $13.2 million to land it in fourth place.  That’s an average performance in a second weekend for a comedy, but on a $75 million budget and only $43.9 million domestic thus far, things aren’t looking good for this movie to hit profitability while still in the theaters.

Rounding out the top five was the smaller release, J. Edgar.  It pulled in $11.4 million from a somewhat limited release with 1,910 screens.  (in comparison, Immortals had 3,112.)

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas fell 54.5% to land in sixth with $5.9 million, and in eighth was Paranormal Activity 3 which brought in $3.6 million, finally breaking the $100 million dollar mark off of a $5 million budget.

Next week will see Happy Feet Two and … unfortunately … Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1.  Get ready for a stupid amount of money to come in.

Apparently people who missed going to the theaters last weekend due to the weather made up for it this weekend by keeping last week’s top contender rolling in the catnip.

Falling a mere 3.1% from last weekend, Puss in Boots brought in another $33 million. This is probably a little bit of an oddity due to the weather, but hey, when you set a new record, you set a new record for the smallest drop ever for a wide release.

The new Ben Stiller comedy Tower Heist came in second with $25.1 million, a lower than usual opening for one of his movies, and definitely lower for Eddie Murphy, his costar.

Stoner comedies might be falling in popularity somewhat judging by the performance of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, coming in below Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and seeing as 95% of the attendance was at 3D locations, that means attendance was even lower due to the higher ticket prices.  The true story will be told in the coming weeks.

Paranormal Activity 3 came in fourth with another $8.5 million bringing the domestic gross to $95.3 off of a $5 million dollar budget.  That puts it only $12 million behind the original film, and it seems like it could easily surpass it.

In Time, the new Justin Timberlake action vehicle , slipped into fifth place with $7.7 million, not leaving thins to hopeful this ending up being a big film. I can’t say I’m overly surprised.

The only big release for next weekend is J. Edgar, so don’t expect to see too many changes in the line up of what folks are going to see.

An unseasonably early snow storm in the upper northeast put a damped on the box office this weekend, but that couldn’t keep the first spin off film from the Shrek series from scoring a nice chunk of change.

Snow in the northeast kept the box office receipts a bit lower than expected this weekend, but Puss in Boots, the first spin off film from the Shrek series still brought in around $33 million this weekend.

Falling to second place with a 64% slide was Paranormal Activity 3 with $19 million.  This brings its domestic total to $81 million, and considering the $5 million dollar budget, I would hazard to guess we can expect a Paranormal Activity 4 in our futures.

The new Justin Timberlake action vehicle In Time came in third with a pretty soft $12 million.  Not too surprising to be honest, the trailers read much more as a home viewing experience to me than a must see in the theaters.

Footloose feel to fourth place with $5.5 million bringing its cumulative total to $38.5 million. Off of a $24 million budget this film is still clearly in the red, and it isn’t looking too good for making it to the black during its theatrical run.

Rounding out the top five was the new Johnny Depp film, The Rum Diary, once again proving that not everything he touches turns to gold.

This week sees everything going heavy on comedy with the release of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and Tower Heist.

Apparently the movie going audience hasn’t yet tired of the “found footage” horror film genre as the third film in the Paranormal Activity series set records for an October opening.

Paranormal Activity 3 scared up $54 million in its opening weekend to set a record for the biggest opening ever for October and the largest premiere for the series.  However, not all was rosy as nearly 49% of that came in on Friday, but considering the film only cost $5 million to make, it’s highly doubtful anyone is going to be horribly upset about how the money came in.

Coming in second was Real Steel with a 30.5% decline to $11.3 million.  That brings its domestic total to $67.2 million, but with no data released yet on its budget it’s difficult to judge how it’s doing.

Third place saw Footloose slide a respectable 30.3% in its second weekend to bring in $10.85 million. It’s not exactly burning up the box office, but it is holding its own for sure.

Swasbuckling its way into a disappointing fourth place opening, the 318th version of The Three Musketeers brought in a disappointing $8.8 million. It’s doubtful this is the amount the studio was hoping for in its opening weekend.

The Ides of March fell to fifth place to bring in $4.9 million.

Opening next week will In Time, Puss in Boots, The Rum Diary and Anonymous.

I Don’t Know How She Does It? $8,000 this weekend bringing its domestic total to $9.594 million off a $24 million budget. Here’s a funny moment for you, Captain America, which was released in July and comes out on home video this week, brought in another $165,000.

Dancing and aliens couldn’t knock down the boxing robots.

Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, kept its top spot at the box office, although just barely. Falling a respectable 40.3% to earn $16.3 million bringing its domestic box office total to $51.7 million.

Coming in second was the remake of Footloose with $16.1 million. There is a chance that once the final tallies come out later today that #1 and #2 could switch places, but it was definitely a close call.

The Thing shape shifted its way into a disappointing third place with a meager $8.7 million. Things aren’t looking too good for this remake … what a shock.

The Ides of March, the latest George Clooney vehicle, did a pretty good job of holding on, falling 28.4% to bring in $7.5 million, bringing its domestic total for two weeks to $22.1 million.

Wrapping up the top five was Dolphin Tale which slipped a further 30.2% to bring in $6.3 million.

This week’s other semi-high profile opening for The Big Year starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson debuted in eighth place with an abysmal $3.3 million.  With a so-so advertising campaign that completely ignored the bird watching premise of the story, this isn’t a huge surprise, but still ranks as one of the worst openings for all three actors.

Next weekend has Johnny English Reborn, The Mighty Macs, Paranormal Activity 3 and The Three Musketeers. The only one with any real hope of doing well, in my opinion is the third entry in the Paranormal Activity series, and even that I have low hopes for.

I Don’t Know How She Does It? $32,000 this weekend bringing its domestic total to $9.569 million off a $24 million budget. This just gets uglier with each passing weekend.