The family film "Nim's Island" was the tops in the Inland Empire this weekend while the gambling drama "21" was tops nationally.

We know that people in our area like gambling (how else can we explain the popularity of all the area casinos? There's no way all the visitors to Pechanga, Morongo, etc. are tourists!).

So how did "Nim's Island" manage to gain the top spot in our backyard when it was only third nationally?

I have some theories:

1) People in the Inland area love family films. According to the research we commissioned, family and animated films are top genres in our region. Clearly, when a family film comes out, we'll go and see it.

2) People here love PG and PG-13 rated movies. "Nim's Island," with a PG rating, definitely fits with this theory. "21" is rated PG-13, but the gambling plot is adult-oriented, and dramas don't do very well in our region.

3) Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler and Abigail Breslin. Foster's "The Brave One" opened big here, as did Butler's "300" (so much for family films, eh?). Breslin's "Little Miss Sunshine" did merely OK in this area, but was honored at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. I wouldn't go so far as say these actors this area's pet actors, but it seems clear we don't hate them either.

4) "Nim" was new, "21" was not. Audiences in the Inland Empire will crowd a theater for a movie's opening weekend, and unless the word-of-mouth is particularly good, attendance drops off dramatically. "Nim's Island" benefited from this.

Leave a comment

Name: (required)

Email: (required; will not be displayed)

URL:  (optional)

Remember personal info?

Comment: (you may use basic HTML tags for style)

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.

Note: You will need to re-enter the captcha field after previewing