‘Boogeyman’ comes out as No. 1 movie

Moviegoers showed that they weren’t afraid of the “Boogeyman,” pushing the horror flick to the top of the weekend box office with a $19.5 million debut.

“Spider-Man” director Sam Raimi’s film about a man who tries to overcome his fear of what’s lurking in the closet by spending a night in his boyhood home topped the romantic comedy “The Wedding Date,” which opened at No. 2 with $11 million, according to studio estimates.

Ice Cube’s road-trip comedy “Are We There Yet?” slipped into third with $10.4 million, raising its total after 17 days to $51.1 million. Last weekend’s No. 1 movie, “Hide and Seek,” dropped into fourth place with $8.9 million, lifting its 10-day gross to $35.7 million.

For a Super Bowl weekend when many moviegoers stay at home, Hollywood had a fairly strong showing, with the top 12 movies grossing $91 million. During Super Bowl weekend last year, the top 12 took in $73.4 million.

As with recent horror movies “Hide and Seek,” “White Noise,” and “Saw,” “Boogeyman” overcame harsh critical reaction to draw in the faithful horror crowd. Produced for just $7 million, it should turn a tidy profit even if revenues nosedive in subsequent weekends.

With a budget under $15 million, “The Wedding Date” also is expected to turn a solid profit despite being trashed by critics. It stars Debra Messing as a woman who hires a male escort as her companion to a wedding to show up her ex-fiance, who is the best man.

Using Messing’s audience appeal from her sitcom “Will & Grace” and a relative lack of current movie choices for women, “The Wedding Date” was able to draw in a good portion of the female crowd. Women accounted for three-fourths of the movie’s audience.