With this hit, Disney extended the Witch Mountain franchise established with two 70s movies. The Race to Witch Mountain, which is a remake of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain, reunited actor Dwayne Johnson and director Andy Fickman. Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson played the role of a taxi driver protecting alien children.

 

The success of the movie at the box office may have had a lot to do with parents over 30 who remembered the 1975 version of the film and wanted to see the remake, said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion picture group. Considering the fact that about 20 percent of the audience was unaccompanied adults and 18 percent were couples without children, Mr. Zoradi’s statement makes perfect sense. 

 

"The idea is to play to the widest possible audience you can," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

 

The No. 2 was superhero movie Watchmen with earnings of $18.1 million. Ticket sales for the Warner Bros movie dropped 67 percent compared to its opening week, but the management said it was expecting that to happen. 

 

The No. 3 of this week’s chart was the Last House on the Left with $14.7 million. The film was also a remake based on Wes Craven's 1972 horror thriller. 

 

Here are the top ten movies at the box office according to Media by Numbers: 

 

1. Race to Witch Mountain - $25 million

2. Watchmen - $18 million

3. The Last House on the Left - $14.7 million

4. Taken - $6.7 million

5. Madea Goes to Jail - $5.1 million

6. Slumdog Millionaire - $5 million

7. Paul Blart: Mall Cop $3.1 million

8. He's Just Not That Into You - $2.9 million

9. Coraline - $3.3 million

10. Miss March - $2.4 million.