'The Great Debaters' doing mild business

"The Great Debaters" landed in 11th place this weekend at the box office. It made $6 million, according to http://www.boxofficemojo.com/, from Dec. 28 through Dec. 30.

As I've mentioned before, it's only on 1,171 screens, which is less than a third of the screens being used for each of this week's top three.

Through Jan. 1, "Debaters" made a bit more than $16.4 million. Not too shabby for an 8-day total. But certainly not overwhelming, either.

While it's weekend per screen average was a healthy $5,128, it was lagging well behind "National Treasure," "Chipmunks" and "I Am Legend" in that department.

The performance can be considered a bit disappointing for a flick starring two of Hollywood's A-list talents: Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Granted, it's a drama inspired by a little known subject, but the star power should be attracting more attention than it has so far. On average, a Denzel pic brings in about $44 million in domestic box office.

Perhaps the Golden Globes can give it a little boost. It was nominated in the best dramatic pic category.

And how's 'The Mist?'

Shreveport's previous big release, "The Mist," has also performed modestly at the box office: $25.3M to date, according to http://www.boxofficemojo.com/.

For "The Mist," what's interesting to note is that the pairing of Frank Darabont (director) and Stephen King produced mixed results in the past. "The Shawshank Redemption" only made $28.3 million in the domestic box office, but it's been on cable seemingly every minute since its 1994 release.

"The Green Mile" (1999) on the other hand, was box office gold: $136.8 million.

Will "The Mist" find its audience on cable or DVD? Perhaps. Time will tell.

Needless to say, Shreveport hasn't produced a blockbuster yet ($100 million threshhold). What will eclipse the mark first? "Mad Money?" "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins?" Or do we have to wait until "Year One?"