Kid flick kicks ass!

This is how the preliminary weekend box office numbers are looking:

1.) Race to Witch Mountain: $25 million
2.) Watchmen: $18 million
3.) The Last House on the Left: 14.7 million
4.) Taken: $6.7 million
5.) Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail: $5.1 million

Conventional wisdom has it that a decent kid's movie is always a winner, but this doesn't bode well for the hugely expensive Watchmen or the Last House on the Left remake.

Could it be the power of the actor formerly known as The Rock? I must confess that I'm a Dwayne Johnson fan. He's not a great actor and probably never will be. But he's got real star power; when he's on screen, everyone and everything else fades into the background.

And I have to say (though I'm very much in the minority), that I think Richard Kelly's Southland Tales is a pretty interesting movie and that Johnson is a significant part of the reason.

And remember, people jumped on Kelly's Donnie Darko with both feet when it opened, and now it's a bona fide cult classic. Just saying.