BOX OFFICE BATTLE!

This weekend saw the release of INFERNAL AFFAIRS remake, THE DEPARTED; Jackie Chan's ROB-B-HOOD; and Taiwanese horror flick, SILK.

THE DEPARTED blasted to the number one spot with $27 million, fueled by red hot reviews and the biggest release for a Scorsese movies ever. It beat his previous record-holder for opening weekend, CAPE FEAR, which hauled in just over $10 million on its opening weekend, and it beat TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE REMAKE #2 which made around $19 million. Surprisingly, studio tracking showed that it hit every demographic equally: old, young, men and women.

Meanwhile, over in that mysterious region we like to call Asia, Chan's ROB-B-HOOD sucked up a whole lot of cash over the National Day Holiday this weekend. It took in $1.13 million in the HKSAR and $2.6 million in China. This was a thorough pounding for THE BANQUET which has been open for 19 days in the HKSAR and hauled in a mere $1.03 million. SILK held the number four spot in Hong Kong with $108,846.

Meanwhile, the hotly anticipated Japanese fighting schoolgirl flick, YO-YO GIRL COP, is now in its second week of release and it's only made $281,000 so far. Does this mean there's no future for sailor suit schoolgirls with killer yo-yo movies? That's a world I don't want to live in.