THE HELP WORKS ON LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Even without the benefit of 3D surcharges, DreamWorks/Paramounts’ The Help easily managed to stay at the top of the box office for the third week in a row, beating a slew of films that did have 3D going for them during the summer, including debuting Shark Night 3D, which pretty much only played 3D venues. According to studio estimates, The Help will earn $13.2 million over the three-day weekend and $18 million over the four-day Labor Day holiday to bring its four-week total to $122.4 million. Of a trio of new films, the one that was expected to perform the worst performed the best — Focus Features’ spy thriller The Debt earned $9.7 million over the three days and will likely earn $12.2 million over the holiday. The other two, Shark Night 3D and Apollo 18, are running neck-and-neck with about $8.7/$10.7 million for the former and $8.6/$10.5 million for the latter. Rounding out the top 5 was Rise of the Planet of the Apes with around $7.8/$10.0 million. Other films in the top ten include: 6. Colombiana, $7.4/$9.3 million; 7. Our Idiot Brother, $5.2/$6.5 million; 8. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, $4.6/$6.2 million; 9. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, 4.9/$5.9 million; 10. The Smurfs, $4.0/$5.5 million.