This is a bit surprising: Dawn of the Dead replaced The Passion as the #1 box office draw this weekend. Looking down the list, however, I see that the Dead distributors wisely picked an excellent week to release the film. The only other major releases were the dubious-looking Taking Lives and the promising-looking Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The latter’s success depends on a classic word-of-mouth campaign, and was released in about half of the theatres that Dead was shown in.
As a result, Dawn of the Dead gets great press for topping out the box office. I’m not sure why people are going to this movie–it’s pretty much your average zombie flick, and 28 Days Later is superior in every way. I’d say that Dead and Taking Lives had similar consumer visibility, and I would have thought that Ms. Jolie, Mr. Hawke and Mr. Sutherland would have more draw than Sarah Polley (did my favourite indie starlet need some cash?) and Ving Rhames. Plus, with Angelina as the straight girl’s favourite fantasy, I would have assumed Taking Lives had more cross-gender appeal.
But, then, I went to Dawn of the Dead this weekend, too.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Hmm, what made u go to Dawn of the Dead? I saw Eternal Sunshine and highly recommend it!!
It was a timing issue. That was the movie that fitted my schedule–I definitely plan to see ‘Eternal Sunshine’ later in the week. I suspect that Charlie Kaufman is a mad genius.
I eschewed Dawn of the Dead for pretty much the reasons you mentioned and saw Eternal Sunshine instead. I highly recommend it. I’d see it again.
Ditto for me on Eternal Sunshine… it had the right balance between funny and serious, and it would resonate with anyone in a long-term relationship. Especially liked the “dining dead” reference.
Aha…you went to see it, too! I agree – ’28 Days Later’ is much better, but I couldn’t resist another zombie flick.