where the wild things are 1 The highly anticipated release of the Spike Jonze adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are easily topped the box office today, earning $32.5 million in its debut weekend. The film played to generally mixed reviews, but nevertheless struck a chord with many audience members, most of them adults rather than kids. The movie’s PG rating and rather dark subject matter contributed to the demographic makeup of the audience.

Second place went to the Gerard Butler-Jamie Foxx thriller Law Abiding Citizen, which earned $21.2 million over the weekend. Does this mean that Gerard Butler can carry a film, or does Jamie Foxx get some of the credit here?

Paranormal Activity continued to defy expectations and rake in millions, adding another $20.2 million to its coffers, while last weekend’s champ, Couples Retreat, featuring Vince Vaughn badly in need of the best slimming pills on the market, experienced a significant dropoff, earning only $17.9 million this time around.

Here’s the complete top 10 at the box office for the weekend ending 10/18/09:

  1. Where the Wild Things Are, $32.5 million
  2. Law Abiding Citizen, $21.2 million
  3. Paranormal Activity, $20.2 million
  4. Couples Retreat, $17.9 million
  5. The Stepfather, $12.3 million
  6. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, $8.1 million
  7. Zombieland, $7.8 million
  8. Toy Story, $3.01 million
  9. Surrogates, $1.92 million
  10. The Invention of Lying, $1.91 million