There were no blockbusters on this September frame but, after last weekend’s dismal returns, it’s hard to feel disappointed. Aided by 3D technology, Resident Evil: Retribution reigned with $21.1 million – more than twice what The Possession earned in first place last weekend. Finding Nemo 3D also had a ticket-price advantage although, in this case, the 2003 Pixar classic could not match the gross of last year’s 3D The Lion King re-release.

After enduring the worst weekend since 2008 (and a couple more low weekends besides), the box office received a much-needed boost on Friday from a pair of familiar features. Resident Evil: Retribution was yesterday’s clear winner, earning an estimated $8.4 million from 3,012 locations. The fifth entry in the Resident Evil franchise, Retribution is expected to take in $22 million through Sunday – a slight decline from the $26.6 million posted by Resident Evil: Afterlife on this weekend in 2010. The last RE feature (and the first to feature 3D effects), Afterlife went on to earn almost $300 million worldwide – 79% of that from international audiences. 3D technology also claimed second place at the Friday box office with the debut of Finding Nemo 3D. The first Pixar classic to get a 3D make-over since the Toy Story/Toy Story 2 double feature, Nemo 3D earned an estimated $5.1 million from 2,904 runs for what is expected to be a debut weekend in the $18 million range. Finally, in just 5 theatres in New York and LA, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master broke records for a limited release with a giant per-screen average of $48,425. Full details and analysis tomorrow.

We told you yesterday that this weekend was on track to become the lowest-grossing frame of the year and the lowest-grossing frame since September 2008. Unfortunately, nothing came along to change that gloomy portrait after Sunday’s estimates were released. No film, including first-place holdover The Possession, managed to break ten million and only one new film reached half that amount.

In case you’ve missed any of the installments of the Resident Evil franchise since its feature film inception back in 2002, we’ve got a retrospective video to get you caught up before Resident Evil: Retribution debuts in theaters September 14th.  The fifth iteration, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, follows the continuing adventures of Alice (Milla Jovovich) and resistance fighters battling against the Umbrella Corporation and the undead.  Resident Evil: Retribution also stars Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Boris Kodjoe, Bingbing Li and Kevin Durand.  Hit the jump to check out the video recap.

To say the box office has been a bit sleepy of late would be a gross understatement.  Seriously, if I am being bored by the numbers I can only imagine how ordinary movie fans feel.  Four new titles hit theatres this weekend, including Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion. The pandemic thriller, and its A-list cast, drew an impressive three day estimate of $23.1 million: more than enough to end the three-week reign of The Help as the nation’s top draw.

As the current 3D trend is taking over movie theaters everywhere, it’s now poised to invade your living room.  In order to complement the surge in production of 3D televisions and Blu-ray players, The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) has announced 36 titles set to be available just in time for the holiday season, with dozens more to follow in early 2011.  10 of the titles will hit stores on November 16, just in time for Black Friday.

The releases include a wide range of titles from AIX Records, DreamWorks Animation, Giant Screen Films, Image Entertainment, IMAX Corporation, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video. It also includes a number of high-profile titles that will be released as exclusives for certain 3D televisions. “We are excited to see so much industry support for bringing Blu-ray 3D home,” said Ron Sanders, President, Warner Home Video and President, DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. “And now, consumers buying 3D home entertainment systems over Black Friday weekend will have ample 3D programming to accompany them.” For a full list of films being released on 3D Blu-ray for the holidays, hit the jump.

Who knew? Ten years after a group of bleary-eyed dreamers with nothing but a shopping cart, a staple gun and a complete lack of social boundaries found their way to MTV on the series Jackass, it looks like the market for watching men perform their own vasectomies has only grown. And I mean seriously grown. The third installment in the Jackass cinematic dynasty, Jackass 3D, has debuted with a staggering $21.7 million from 3,081 locations. Not only does that give Jackass 3D the biggest debut of the entire franchise it also makes it, by far, the biggest debut of the fall – outstripping the 3D Resident Evil: Afterlife by more than $10 million. In fact, you would have to look all the way back to Inception last July to find a film that matches Jackass 3D’s opening day. At this point it looks like Jackass 3D could realize as much as $40 million through Sunday. I repeat: who knew?  Summit’s DC comic adaptation Red came in second with $7.1 million from 3,255 locations. That is just over the debut of Wall Street 2 which means that, finally, fall 2010 may have a weekend that doesn’t fall short by 2009 standards.  We’ll update you tomorrow.

The Resident Evil franchise continues to eschew erosion, with fourth entry Resident Evil: Afterlife netting a series high $28 million opening weekend.  Star Milla Jovovich noted the success, and promised another sequel to Vulture:

“This new Resident Evil is the first one to ever open at number one worldwide.  It’s the biggest movie in the franchise.  So we’re definitely going to make another one.  We’ve been talking to a lot of fans on Twitter and stuff, so it’s probably going to be one of the first movies where we really talk to fans to see what they want, and what characters they want to see.  It’s going to be a more interactive process.”

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The series has always been more crowd-pleaser than critical darling, so that seems a savvy approach.  If you’re a fan of the series, are you excited for the continued adventures of Alice, or does it feel like the story has run its course?

Welcome to the all-Resident Evil edition of the weekend box office report! The fourth entry in the RE series was the only new release of the weekend, which means its ascendency to number one was all but ordained by God.  God is still a big 3D fan, in case you didn’t know.

Unlike the last Friday of summer – when underachievers Machete and The American battled for number one – the first weekend of fall has given us one unequivocal winner: Resident Evil: Afterlife. The fourth installment in writer/producer Paul WS Anderson’s successful franchise earned an estimated $10.9 million: a Resident Evil record. The series’ previous two features, Extinction in 2007 and Apocalypse in 2004, both opened below $10 million. Of course, considering that Afterlife was the sole wide release of the weekend and that 62% of its 3,203 locations screened the film in its original 3D format (it was shot, not converted, in 3D), that estimate could have been higher… ticket price premium and all. Still, RE: Afterlife is now poised to break its previous weekend record as well – with three day projections coming in at just under $30 million. Full details when you check back tomorrow.

Zombies have overrun Los Angeles.  And in Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: Afterlife, they’re more than just metaphorically undead.  Newcomer to the merry band of zombie fighting survivors is Boris Kodjoe as Luther West.  At the press junket for Resident Evil: Afterlife, Kodjoe heaped praise upon director Paul W.S. Anderson and then rest of the cast. He also talked a bit about his upcoming role in J.J. Abrams’ Undercovers.  Hit the jump to watch what he had to say:

Based on the glut of zombie properties hitting bookstores, TV, and in movie theaters, it would appear America still loves zombies.  With Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: Afterlife, we can finally see flesh eaters in 3D!  (I, for one, am actually excited about this.)   In RE: Afterlife, Milla Jovovich once again returns as Alice, but this time she faces new zombies and challenges as she takes on the evil Umbrella Corporation, and seeks out the last survivors of the human race.  At the recent press junket for Resident Evil: Afterlife, Jovovich discussed the comfort and challenges of returning the franchise a fourth time as well as the upcoming Three Musketeers movie that she says is “not your parent’s” version.  Check out the full interview after the jump.

If you’ve paid attention to the media lately, you might’ve noticed that zombies are in. Now they’re in 3D with Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: Afterlife.  Reprising her role as Claire Redfield from Resident Evil: Extinction, Ali Larter once again battles the undead and the evil Umbrella Corporation.  At the press junket for Resident Evil: Afterlife, Larter discussed surviving the apocalypse, how your career path chooses you, and how there is absolutely no truth to the rumors of a Heroes TV movie … as far as she knows.  Watch the full interview after the jump.

With writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D getting released on September 10, Screen Gems has released the full press kit and included are four movie clips, a new featurette, and about nine minutes of B-Roll (Behind the Scenes Footage) from the set.

As you might imagine, the featurette cuts between footage from the movie and the actors talking about their roles and the film.  The B-Roll is great for fans of the franchise as you can see what it was like on set and how they made the 3D movie.  Finally, the clips give you a taste of the finished film.  Hit the jump to check everything out:

Would you like to see a couple posters for upcoming Milla Jovovich movies?  Of course you would.  The first poster is for Stone and the floating heads of stars Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Milla Jovovich are trapped inside the title.  The tagline reads: “Some people tell lies.  Others live them.”  And what happens when you live a lie?  You become encased in letters, apparently.

The other poster for is for Resident Evil: Afterlife, and oddly, Jovovich is nowhere to be found.  Instead, it shows off Shawn Roberts as baddie Albert Wesker who has captured co-stars Wentworth Miller and Ali Larter inside his Ray-Bans.   Hit the jump to check out both posters.  Stone opens on October 8th and Resident Evil: Afterlife opens in 3D on September 10th.