SOCIAL NETWORK COULD HAVE USED A FEW MORE VISITORS

Despite receiving an inordinate amount of attention in the news media, being supported by an expensive marketing campaign, and receiving some of the best reviews of the year — including many predicting a plethora of Oscars — The Social Network performed at the low end of expectations over the weekend. The movie about the founding of Facebook posted $22.4 million in ticket sales — more than the $19 million earned the previous week by Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, but nothing to cheer about. Some analysts suggested that the problem was that Hollywood was releasing too many adult-themed dramas in succession and that ticket buyers for such fare go to the movies infrequently. What was clear is that the principal movie audience — the older dating teen crowd — shunned the cineplex last weekend. Holdovers from the previous week performed indifferently or flopped. Ticket sales were down 12 percent from a year ago, belying the subtitle of the Wall Street sequel, Money Never Sleeps.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. The Social Network, Sony, $22,445,653, (New); 2. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Warner Bros., $10,887,429, 2 Wks. ($30,079,298); 3. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, 20th Century Fox, $10,002,578, 2 Wks. ($35,778,429); 4. The Town, Warner Bros., $9,749,332, 3 Wks. ($64,056,752); 5. Easy A, Sony, $6,748,777, 3 Wks. ($42,176,967); 6. You Again, Disney, $5,722,566, 2 Wks. ($16,607,633); 7. Case 39, Paramount, $5,350,570, (New); 8. Let Me In, Overture, $5,147,479, (New); 9. Devil, Universal, $3,564,055, 3 Wks. ($27,291,460); 10. Alpha and Omega, Lionsgate, $2,924,868, 3 Wks. ($18,949,437).