SHOW BIZ: Weekend Movie Box Office Estimates: September 9-11, 2011

Rank	Film	Distributor	Weekend Total	# Of Screens	Weeks Playing	Cumulative Box Office
1	Contagion	Warner Brothers	$23,135,000	3,222	1	$23,135,000
2	The Help	Buena Vista	$8,691,000	2,935	5	$137,093,000
3	Warrior	Lionsgate	$5,607,000	1,869	1	$5,607,000
4	The Debt	Focus	$4,905,000	1,874	2	$21,993,000
5	Colombiana	Sony/Columbia	$4,000,000	2,354	3	$29,779,000

For more information, access the complete chart on boxofficemojo.com.

1. "Contagion:" Steven Soderbergh presents this look at what happens when an infectious disease threatens humanity through varied viewpoints from an ensemble cast, including Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow,Laurence Fishburne, and Kate Winslet. The Informant's Scott Z. Burns provides the script. - Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

2. "The Help:" Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, 'The Help' stars Emma Stone ('Easy A') as Skeeter, Academy Award-nominated Viola Davis ('Doubt') as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny--three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed--even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.

Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humor and hope, 'The Help' is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change. -moviefone.com

3. "Warrior:" Two estranged brothers and Mixed Martial Arts fighters confront the forces that tore their family apart as they prepare to do battle in the ring in this drama from director Gavin O'Connor (Pride and Glory). Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) is an ex-Marine from Pittsburgh who's never quite shaken his troubled past. Upon learning that the purse in an upcoming MMA tournament is the largest in the league's history, Tommy Recruits his father, Paddy (Nick Nolte), a former coach and recovering alcoholic, to whip him into shape in time for the competition. Meanwhile, as Tommy steadily ascends the ranks by defeating one powerful opponent after another, his brother, Brendan, struggles to provide for his family with his job as a public school teacher. A former MMA fighter with a devastating punch, Brendan begins to wonder if he, too, could have a shot at winning the coveted purse. In time, Brendan and Tommy both emerge as dark horse contenders in the competition, setting the two brothers on a brutal collision course. But Tommy and Brendan's biggest battle won't be fought in the ring -- it will be fought in their hearts and minds. - Jason Buchanan, Rovi

4. "The Debt:" The espionage thriller begins in 1997, as shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel (Academy Award winner Helen Mirren) and Stefan (two-time Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson) about their former colleague David (Ciaran Hinds of Focus' 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day'). All three have been venerated for decades by their country because of the mission that they undertook back in 1966, when the trio (portrayed, respectively, byJessica Chastain [soon to be seen in 'The Tree of Life'], Marton Csokas [Universal's upcoming 'Dream House'], andSam Worthington ['Avatar,' 'Clash of the Titans']) tracked down Nazi war criminal Vogel (Jesper Christensen of 'Casino Royale' and 'Quantum of Solace') in East Berlin. At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team's mission was accomplished -- or was it? The suspense builds in and across two different time periods, with startling action and surprising revelations.-moviefone.com

5. "Colombiana:" A woman becomes a professional killer in order to seek revenge against the ruthless gangster who murdered her parents in this action thriller from director Olivier Megaton and writer/producer Luc Besson. As a young girl, Cataleya (Zoe Saldana) saw her parents killed in cold blood. Now Cataleya is all grown up, and she's determined to settle the score. Going to work for her uncle, Cataleya methodically begins working her way up through the criminal underworld, taking out every criminal in her path on an obsessive quest to bury the man who single-handedly destroyed her life. -Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 

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