Will the presidential elections impact Hollywood? 
If history is any guide, Democratic presidents are associated with larger box office sales growth.  From 1980 to 2007, box office sales grew by 2.8%, on average, during Democratic administrations, while average sales growth under Republican administrations was just 1%, according to research released Monday by Nielsen PreView.
Overall, in the past three decades, movie sales have grown almost three times faster during Democratic administrations than during GOP administrations, according to Nielsen.

“Lakeview Terrace”, the new thriller from Sony Pictures, starring Samuel L. Jackson, claimed the top spot at the Box Office, earning $15.6 million in its opening weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Coen brothers comedy “Burn After Reading” dropped to second place, after earning $11.3 million when it opened last weekend. 
Below are box-office totals for the weekend of September 19 to 21, from Nielsen EDI.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS
(MILLIONS)

1
Lakeview Terrace
SONY PICTURES
$15,004,672
$15.0

2
Burn After Reading
FOCUS FEATURES
$11,028,257
$36.1

3
My Best Friend’s Girl
LIONSGATE
$8,265,357
$8.3

4
Igor
MGM STUDIOS
$7,803,347
$7.8

5
Righteous Kill
OVERTURE FILMS
$7,424,479
$28.5

6
Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys
LIONSGATE
$7,271,899
$28.1

7
The Women
PICTUREHOUSE
$5,417,779
$19.3

8
Ghost Town
DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT
$5,012,315
$5.0

9
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$2,915,174
$521.9

10
The House Bunny
SONY PICTURES
$2,662,650
$45.6

Source: The Hollywood Reporter / Nielsen EDI

The Coen brothers’ new comedy “Burn After Reading” beat pre-release expectations, taking in an estimated $19.4 million on its debut weekend and topping the Box Office charts for September 12-14, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 
Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI, as well as a full weekend box-office wrap-up from The Hollywood Reporter.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS
(MILLIONS)

1
Burn After Reading
FOCUS FEATURES
$19,128,001
$19.1

2
Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys
LIONSGATE
$17,381,218
$17.4

3
Righteous Kill
OVERTURE FILMS
$16,288,361
$16.3

4
The Women
PICTUREHOUSE
$10,115,121
$10.1

5
Tropic Thunder
DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT
$4,183,405
$103.0

6
The House Bunny
SONY PICTURES
$4,154,427
$42.0

7
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$4,128,153
$517.8

8
Bangkok Dangerous
LIONSGATE
$3,031,307
$10.6

9
Traitor
OVERTURE FILMS
$2,131,639
$20.7

10
Death Race
UNIVERSAL
$2,056,415
$33.2

Source: The Hollywood Reporter / Nielsen EDI

In the lowest grossing movie weekend since 2003, Lionsgate’s “Bangkok Dangerous” claimed the top spot at the Box Office over the weekend.  The film earned an estimated $7.8 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 
Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI, as of Monday, September 8, 2008.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS

1
Bangkok Dangerous
LIONSGATE
$7,783,266
$7.8

2
Tropic Thunder
DREAMWORKS / PARAMOUNT
$7,230,710
$96.5

3
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$5,515,119
$512.0

4
The House Bunny
SONY PICTURES
$5,512,870
$36.6

5
Traitor
OVERTURE FILMS
$4,274,297
$17.3

6
Babylon A.D.
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$4,180,570
$17.4

7
Death Race
UNIVERSAL
$3,710,915
$29.9

8
Disaster Movie
LIONSGATE
$3,031,307
$10.6

9
Mamma Mia!
UNIVERSAL
$2,855,945
$136.4

10
Pineapple Express
SONY PICTURES
$2,255,875
$84.0

Source: The Hollywood Reporter / Nielsen EDI

“Tropic Thunder” topped the box office charts for a third straight weekend, earning approximately $14.6 million to close the summer movie season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Babylon A.D.” claimed second place, taking in approximately $11.5 million over the weekend, and “The Dark Knight” finished a close third with approximately 11.1 million. 
Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI, as of Monday, September 1, 2008.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS

1
Tropic Thunder
DREAMWORKS / PARAMOUNT
$14,602,121
$86.9

2
Babylon A.D.
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$11,541,571
$11.5

3
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$11,127,290
$504.8

4
The House Bunny
SONY PICTURES
$10,177,701
$29.7

5
Traitor
OVERTURE FILMS
$10,006,327
$11.5

6
Death Race
UNIVERSAL
$7,889,755
$24.7

7
Disaster Movie
LIONSGATE
$6,945,535
$6.9

8
Mamma Mia!
UNIVERSAL
$5,421,815
$132.5

9
Pineapple Express
SONY PICTURES
$4,448,782
$80.8

10
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
WARNER BROS.
$3,764,410
$30.7

Source: The Hollywood Reporter / …

“Tropic Thunder” took in an estimated $16.2 million over the weekend to claim the top spot at The Box Office for the second straight weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The PG-13 comedy “The House Bunny” claimed second place, raking in $14.5 million over the weekend.  Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI as of Sunday, August 24.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS

1
Tropic Thunder
DREAMWORKS / PARAMOUNT
$16,272,195
$65.8

2
The House Bunny
SONY PICTURES
$14,533,702
$14.5

3
Death Race
UNIVERSAL
$12,621,090
$12.6

4
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$10,542,424
$489.4

5
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
WARNER BROS.
$5,661,456
$25.0

6
Pineapple Express
SONY PICTURES
$5,452,163
$73.8

7
Mirrors
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$5,010,663
$20.2

8
Mamma Mia!
UNIVERSAL
$4,314,840
$124.5

9
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
UNIVERSAL
$4,177,950
$93.9

10
The Longshots
MGM STUDIOS
$4,080,687
$4.1

Source: The Hollywood Reporter …

The comedy “Tropic Thunder” took in an estimated $25.8 million over the weekend, knocking “The Dark Knight” down to second place after four weekends of top box office results, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 
“Dark Knight” took in an estimated $16.4 million over the weekend to raise the film’s overall gross to $471.1 million, surpassing the original “Star Wars” ($461 million) to secure second place in all-time box office rankings – behind “Titanic”.
Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI as of Sunday, August 17th. 

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
 GROSS

1
Tropic Thunder
DREAMWORKS / PARAMOUNT
$25,812,796
$36.8

2
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$16,379,293
$471.1

3
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
WARNER …

“The Dark Knight” has climbed past $400 million in just 18 days, hitting the mark faster than any film ever, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 
The film should pass the $403.7 million tally of ”Spider-Man” today, which would move it up to seventh on the all-time box office charts.  It would also make the film the top-grossing comic-book adaptation of all time.
Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI as of Sunday, August 3rd, as well as a full weekend box-office wrap-up from The Hollywood Reporter.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS

1
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$42,664,219
$393.8

2
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
UNIVERSAL
$40,457,770
$40.5

3
Step Brothers
SONY PICTURES
$16,506,526
$63.2

4
Mamma …

For the second week in a row, the latest Batman feature “The Dark Knight” dominated the box office. The film has reached more than $300 million in total earnings faster than any other movie.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS

1
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$75,166,466
$313.80

2
Step Brothers
SONY PICTURES
$30,940,732
$30.90

3
Mamma Mia!
UNIVERSAL
$17,746,725
$62.60

4
The X-Files: I Want To Believe
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$10,021,753
$10

5
Journey to the Center of the Earth
WARNER BROS.
$9,717,217
$60.50

6
Hancock
SONY PICTURES
$8,311,123
$206.50

7
Wall-E
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
$6,422,186
$195.30

8
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
UNIVERSAL
$5,100,305
$66.10

9
Space Chimps
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$4,536,838
$16.20

10
Wanted
UNIVERSAL
$2,738,550
$128.60

Source: The Hollywood Reporter / Nielsen EDI

The Hollywood Reporter details the other top films of the weekend.

With an estimated $62.5 million estimated take over the weekend, the Disney/Pixar animated film “Wall-E,” topped the charts, helping fuel a strong earnings year overall. According to The Hollywood Reporter, year-to-date earnings in 2008 have slightly eclipsed those from the same 2007 period: $4.62 billion vs. $4.6 billion.
The “WALL-E” debut was the fourth-biggest ever for Pixar, compared to a $70.5 million take for 2004’s “The Incredibles,” the $70.3 million opening for 2003’s “Finding Nemo” and a $62.6 million debut for  2001’s “Monsters, Inc.”
Additional updates and results at The Hollywood Reporter.
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