A super opening for the latest teaming of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. The suspense thriller, “Shutter Island” debuted with an estimated $40.2 million this weekend at the domestic Box Office, to become the number one film in the country.
“Shutter Island,” set in the 1950s, is about the investigation of a murder and some bizarre medical practices at a hospital for the criminally insane. This is the film version of Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same title. Lehane’s novels,”Gone, Baby, Gone (1998),” and “Mystic River (2001)” were both turned into successful movies. “Shutter Island” is the fourth movie hook-up for Scorsese and DiCaprio. They also worked together on “Gangs of New York” (2002), “The Aviator” (2004), and “The Departed” (2006).
As for the rest of the weekend contenders, the romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day” came in a distant second with about $17 million. Last weekend, “Valentine’s Day” was sitting pretty in the top spot. No matter, in two weeks the star-studded comedy has raked in around $87.4 million at the domestic Box Office.
The blockbuster hit, “Avatar” landed in third, earning $16 million. The 10 week domestic total — $687 million! The adventure fantasy, “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” scored $15.3 million. And rounding out the top five, the horror drama “The Wolfman” with $9.8 million.
