After placing 23rd last week, The Bucket List - starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman -  soared 22 spots to take the #1 spot this past weekend.  It seems a simple case of addition was all that was needed to accomplish this feat.  Up until now, the movie had only been playing in 16 theaters total; it expanded to nearly 3000 on Friday.  Bucket’s impressive finish was not only a win for 70-year-olds everywhere, it was a win for director Rob Reiner.  His biggest opener had been 1992’s A Few Good Men.  (That film grossed $15.5 million.)  Maybe Reiner should write Jack into all his films.

Debuting at #2 was the latest Ice Cube comedy.  First Sunday, co-starring Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), earned an impressive $8000 per screen average.  That was the best median performance for any movie in this week’s Top Ten.  (There Will Be Blood, this week’s #17, averaged $14,421 over the past three days.)

Will this yesterday’s Golden Globes have any effect on Sweeney Todd’s financial future?  After only 4 weeks in release, the dark feature dropped off the chart and landed at #12.  Assuming theatergoers are still interested in watching potential Oscar nominees, I’m guessing the win for Best Comedy/Musical will give the movie a nice boost next weekend.

1. The Bucket List, Warner Bros., $19,392,416, (avg. $6662)
2. First Sunday, Sony, $17,714,821, (avg. $8005)
3. Juno, Fox Searchlight, $13,612,682, (avg. $5561)
4. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Disney, $11,302,002 (avg. $3347)
5. Alvin and the Chipmunks, 20th Century Fox, $9,302,895, (avg. $2749)
6. I Am Legend, Warner Bros., $8,179,610, (avg. $2439)
7. One Missed Call, Warner Bros., $5,981,373, (avg. $2670)
8. P.S. I Love You, Warner Bros., $4,827,212, (avg. $2078)
9. The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie, Universal, 4,251,320, (avg. $3180)
10. Atonement, Focus Features, $ 4,221,866, (avg. $4444)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)