ALVIN AMAZES

The box-office success of Alvin and the Chipmunks has surprised executives of 20th Century Fox, which produced it, as much as industry analysts and especially movie critics, who wrote scathing reviews about it. "I look at the numbers [box-office receipts] every day, and we just laugh," Elizabeth Gabler of Fox 2000 told the Los Angeles Times. The film had grossed $153.6 million through Tuesday and could wind up taking in as much as National Treasure: Book of Secrets and I Am Legend, the holiday's two blockbuster releases, the Times observed. But since it cost only $55 million to produce, it is likely to be far more profitable than the two other films.

03/01/2008