Weekend Box Office: Shia LeBeouf Now Has Six Straight No. 1 Movies... Who Let This Happen?

"Money Never Sleeps" indeed. Who takes the credit for the "Wall Street" sequel opening? As little as this might mean ($60 million domestic seems like the ceiling for latter-day Oliver Stone), it's a victory when studios can get a September release to an opening around $20 million. Credit to the headliners - the combination of one-time heavy hitter Michael Douglas in his signature role (akin to Stallone returning to Rocky or Rambo) and box office kid dynamo Shia LeBeouf likely meant a safe bet for curious viewers, in addition to fans of the $43 million-grossing first film twenty-three years ago.

We'll guess this is a vote for topicality, so regardless of the quality of the movie (irrelevant - this is a box office discussion), good for the American people. If they completely rejected this film (and, mind you, this opening isn't exactly a record breaker), then you could have considered it a referendum against the increasingly not-with-it Oliver Stone, but also yet another rejection of a film about topical issues. The war in the Middle East has yet to produce a hit, but here we are in the recession and people will pay to see Michael Douglas bilking people out of their cash and smiling all the way to the bank.

It looks like Warner Bros. is gonna take a mulligan on "Legend of the Guardians." With Zack Snyder behind this action epic, they were likely hoping similar results to when George Miller directed "Happy Feet." Of course, even with 3D-inflated prices, this opening is less than a fourth of what "Happy Feet" scored in its opening frame in 2006. The problem probably lies in the animation-style, as the owls in the picture appear difficult to distinguish. Having no big names above the title also didn't help, but let's face it - sometimes no one wants to see a movie. And whether it's Zack Snyder or Jean-Luc Godard, you're not going to get modern-day audiences, adults or kids, into a theater to watch an animated action picture about owls.

Fortunately for the studio, "The Town" continued to do solid business, approaching $50 million after two weekends. Ben Affleck's crime thriller is most likely the biggest step in rehabilitating the one-time A-Lister. The question is, does he try to pursue more lead roles, or does he become a Redford-like hyphenate? He's only got the new Terrence Malick picture on deck, so could we see a return to the action hero Affleck? Maybe he'll direct a third crime picture set around Boston based on a best-seller? Or maybe his promise will wither in another "Gigli."

Screen Gems benefited from a solid hold for "Easy A," which was impressive not only in that it managed a strong second weekend, but the film also outdistanced the similarly-themed "You Again." Even with the suddenly-everywhere Betty White, 'Again' couldn't score numbers equal to Kristen Bell's other DOA lead role of '10, "When In Rome." This likely puts her leading-lady career on ice for now, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see her pop up in more ensemble comedies.

"Devil" had a typical horror slide into sixth, just barely getting past "Resident Evil: Afterlife." Both are pretty much done, though "Devil" is going to need a stretch to get to $40 million. No such negativity for 'Afterlife,' easily the highest-grossing film in the series worldwide, and this a series that usually scores massively on DVD. 'Afterlife' can thank the 3D prices, but that was only a small consolation to "Alpha And Omega," which plummeted in weekend two, and may be the lowest-grossing wide release film in 3D ever.

In limited release, Woody Allen's latest "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" took in a total $163K on 6 screens, but was topped on per screen average by "Waiting for 'Superman'." The Davis Guggenheim-directed doc about the American education system premiered on only 4 screens, taking in an average of $35k each: a solid opening for the sophomore effort from the same team that brought us "An Inconvenient Truth." Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds-in-a-coffin thriller "Buried" opened on 11 screens, bringing in a modest $104.5K. Our review from TIFF was lukewarm, finding Reynolds' strong performance to be under-served by a plot line that was "ultimately marred by a number of implausibilities and some tepid political commentary." The picture is currently at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, so it remains to be seen what a wider opening and Reynolds' name can do for the take on this one.

1. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Fox) - $19 million
2. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole (WB) - $16.3 million
3. The Town (WB) - $16 million ($49.1 mil.)
4. Easy A (Sony) - $10.7 million ($32.8 mil.)
5. You Again (Disney) - $8.3 million
6. Devil (Universal) - $6.5 million ($21.7 mil.)
7. Resident Evil: Afterlife (Sony) - $4.9 million ($52 mil.)
8. Alpha And Omega (Lionsgate) - $4.7 million ($15.1 mil.)
9. Takers (Sony) - $1.6 million ($54.9 mil.)
10. Inception (WB) - $1.2 million ($287 mil.)