Hurricane Irene: Worst Movie Weekend Of 2011? The Help #1 Again, Colombiana #2, Afraid Of The Dark #3, Our Idiot Brother #5

FRIDAY PM/SATURDAY AMUPDATE: This is turning into the worst moviegoing weekend of 2011, in a race with only Super Bowl weekend, because of the expected miniscule $80M expected for total North American box office grosses.Theater chains like AMC, Regal, and Clearview Cinemas are closing, location counts are dropping, and major releases are finding cover.Hurricane Irene came ashore along theAtlantic Seaboard overnight starting in North Carolina and heading due north.”Landing Saturday night in New York? Couldn’t be much worse,” one studio exec complained to me. Said another, “Business is in the crapper right now. Any way you slice it business is getting creamed this weekend.” The storm described as bigger than the size of Europe created astate of emergencyup the East Coast from North Carolina to Massachusettsandwill depress box office by 10%, 20%, or more. Considering that this weekend’s 3 major opening movies were only expected todebut modestly even in fair weather, studios and distributorshave a Mother Nature excuse when their films underperformat the North American box office. So I can’t humiliate them. Drats! (Although one especially cynical studio exec rued, “Kinda too bad Shark Night 3D isn’t opening this weekend. Think of all the chum jokes we could make.”) Full analysis and refined numbers coming… 1. DreamWorks/Disney’s The Help is a lock again for #1 with $4.2M Friday and an estimated $13.5M weekend as the bestselling book-turned-pic enters its 3.5th week into 2,778 originally booked theaters. The estimated cume is estimated at $95.7M. 2. Sony Pictures/TriStar’s Luc Besson-produced and co-written actioner Colombiana starring Zoe Saldana did the best of the newcomers opening to $3.7M Friday and maybe to an $11Mweekend based on its original booking into 2,614 theaters. It earned an ‘A-’ CinemaScore from audiences. 3.FilmDistrict’s Guillermo del Toro-produced haunted house horror movie Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce was originally booked into 2,760 theaters. It debuted with $3.4M Friday and could make $9M this weekend. It earned an unfortunate ‘C-’ CinemaScore from audiences. 4. Fox’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes entered its 4th weekend in release earning $2.5M and an estimated $8.5M weekend for a $148.3M cume according it the originally booked 3,374 theaters. 5. The Weinstein Co’s raunchy R-rated comedy Our Idiot Brother showcasing Paul Rudd surrounded by Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer originally booked into 2,555 theaters. It opened to $2.3M and maybe a $6M weekend. It earned adisappointing ‘C+’ CinemaScores from audiences. The rest of the Top 10 were holdovers: 6. Spy Kids 4D (Dimension/Weinstein Co) Week 2 (3,305 Theaters Originally Booked) Friday $1.5M (-59%), Estimated$5M, Estimated Cume $21M 7. The Smurfs - 3D (Sony Pictures) Week 5 [2,861 Theaters] Friday $1.2M, Estimated Weekend$4.2M, Estimated Cume $125.4M 8. Crazy, Stupid, Love (Warner Bros) Week 5 [1,577 Theaters] Friday $1MK, Estimated Weekend$3.2M, EstimatedCume $69.8M 9. Fright Night - 3D (DreamWorks/Disney)Week 2 [3,114 Theaters] Friday $960K (-69%), Estimated Weekend $3M, Estimated Cume $14.2M 10. Conan The Barbarian - 3D (Nu Imagine/Millenium/Lionsgate) Week 2 [3,015 Theaters] Friday $950M (-74%), Estimated Weekend $3.2M, Estimated Cume $16.7M FRIDAY: I’ve just learned that AMC which operates the Empire 25 in NYC’s Times Square — the top grossing theater in the country — is closing all New Jersey theaters Saturday at 6:00 PM for the weekend as well as a bunch in states like New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Regal is leaving it up to individual managers to make the call unless otherwise instructed by local authorities but Hollywood distributors expect them to follow suit. Clearview Cinemas already announced all theaters are closed for Saturday and Sunday. Out of concern for the safety of our guests and staff, all Clearview Cinemas will be closed on Saturday August 27 and Sunday August 28. We plan to reopen on Monday August 29. Wishing you and your family a very safe weekend, read a statement on the circuits website.