The Happening Kills at the Box Office

Despite bad reviews (including my own), director M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening managed a strong $30 million opening weekend, according to early estimates. That places it on par with his Unbreakable, which opened with a similar figure in 2000 and went on to make $95 million. The Happening isn't likely to earn that much in the long run, due to what will surely be poor word of mouth, but it's light years ahead of Lady in the Water, which earned only $18 million in its opening frame on the way to a meager $42 million total.

Estimates place The Happening in third place for the weekend, behind The Incredible Hulk and Kung Fu Panda. Although I didn't like the film a whole lot, I'm glad it did well, because: 1) I like Shyamalan as a director and hope he continues to get work; and 2) I'm all for R-rated horror performing well. Speaking of which, The Strangers remains in the top 10 and should cross the $50 million mark in the next week or so. Final numbers are due Monday evening.