Hogging the Box Office

Meanwhile, "Zodiac'' fell far below director David Fincher's biggest opening, $30 million for "Panic Room,'' not coincidentally starring one of the most consistent and least over-exposed draws in the business, Jodie Foster. The three stars of "Zodiac'' -- Jake Gylenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo -- are respected but not significant box office draws. The opening of "Zodiac'' was more in line with those of "Se7en'' and "Fight Club,'' -- at least if you don't figure in the dramatic increase in ticket prices since the last century.

Here's the Paramount spin on "Zodiac'' from The Hollywood Reporter: "Now it's all about how it plays," said Rob Moore, Paramount president of marketing and worldwide distribution, who notes that the film was handicapped by its 2 hour, 40 minute runtime. "There has been no big Academy movie in March that gets that adult audience. We're hoping we can fill that role and be the quality movie for March."

This is the first that Paramount has openly admitted Oscar aspirations for "Zodiac,'' not that last week's awards much helped the winners. None of whom made the top ten over the weekend, and for the losers, it's even grimmer. The $13.1 million taken in by "Zodiac'' represents the entire gross so far for Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima,'' which plummeted 66 percent and has dropped back to 285 screens. This is one of those titles that will find its audience on video, where its claustrophobic settings play quite well.