A raging hurricane, which stormed along the Atlantic Seaboard in the east part of the United States over the weekend, has prompted many movie theaters to close, which has significantly exerted a negative impact upon the box office, with projected attendance being sheered 21 percent from that of last year.

Amid a flurry of flooding, evacuation and "stay at home" orders being imposed along the eastern coast, only one film stood out. " The Help," which saw a mere 28 percent receipts from last weekend, is projected to take in 14.3 million U.S. dollars over the Friday- Sunday period, taking the top notch for two weeks in a row.

A drama based on a bestseller about a young white woman's relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America in early 1960s, "The Help" has played well with audience, especially those living in rural areas, and is on track for 19-day gross of 96.6 million U.S. dollars in admission.

The Walt Disney Co. -released DreamWorks period drama has won over droves of moviegoers in rural areas during its strong showing across the United States and Canada, this is evident that this unique advantage will it withstand the negative impact from Hurricane Irene, which has now been downgraded into tropical storm, in the days to come.

As many as 1,000 movie theaters in the storm-affected areas along the Eastern Coast would have been forced to close, according to Rentrak, the box office reporting service. Major national theater chains including AMC,Regal Cinemas and Clearview Cinemas have announced plans to shut down many of their locations on the coast in response to the violent weather. Combined, the total weekend gross was down some 20 percent from the same weekend last year, and down 26 percent from last weekend.

Two films which opened in wide release this weekend has taken the numbers two and three spots. "Colombiana," a Sony Pictures- distributed PG-13 action film starring Zoe Saldana, is projected to make a soft 10.3 million dollars in attendance. The film about an assassin attempting to avenge her parents' murders opened at 2, 614 locations and managed to beat studio expectations -- the executives have projected it would garner 8 million dollars. Different from the traditional notion that the actioners played well with male, this film as an appeal to women, which made up 57 percent of the audience and 65 percent of them are 25 years of age or older. Movie fans gave it a "A-" rating, according to CinemaScore.

Another debut which finished among the top five is "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark," a thriller which is on track to scare up 8.7 million dollars in movie ticket receipts. The film, distributed by Film District and produced and written by Guillermo del Toro, earned a dismal average grade of "C-" by those who saw it, according to market research company CinemaScore. It deals with a young girl who learns terrifying creatures are living in her house.

"Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes," was in fourth place, with an estimated 8.7 million dollar-weekend, and 148.5 million dollars over four weeks. "Our Idiot Brother" rounded out the top five most- popular films, bagging 6.6 million dollars, more than enough to cover what the Weinstein Co. and supermarket mogul Ron Burkle's YUK Films paid for the R-rated comedy at this year's Sundance Film Festival.