After being off the case for six years,
Jackie Chan and
Chris Tucker raced
back into theaters with their cross-cultural cop buddy action sequel
Rush Hour 3 and
captured the number one spot. The new fantasy film
Stardust opened to
disappointing results in fourth place while the weekend’s other new titles
Daddy Day Camp
and Skinwalkers
were virtually ignored by moviegoers. But overall, the North American box office
remained robust posting a gain of more than 25% over last year for the third
session in a row.
New Line hit the top spot for the first time in a year with its action-comedy
franchise hit Rush
Hour 3 which bowed to an estimated $50.2M. Playing ultrawide in 3,778
sites, the PG-13 film averaged a strong $13,298 per theater. It was the fourth
biggest opening ever in the month of August trailing
The Bourne Ultimatum
($69.3M last weekend),
Rush Hour 2
($67.4M in 2001), and Signs
($60.1M in 2002). While a powerful debut, Rush Hour 3 showed that the franchise
has suffered some audience erosion. The opening weekend gross was 26% smaller
than Rush Hour 2‘s
and factoring in six years of ticket price increases, the bow would be about 35%
weaker.
In the new saga, Chan
and Tucker reteam to
fight a Chinese organized crime syndicate in Paris. Critics were overwhelmingly
negative on the film stating that the characters have overstayed their welcome
and that Tucker, who has not done any films over the last nine years other than
the Rush Hour pics, held up part three because of his salary demands. But
audiences came out for the action and the comedy and should soon push the film
over the $100M mark in the coming weeks.
After its record-breaking opening,
The Bourne Ultimatum
dropped a reasonable 51% to an estimated $33.7M and boosted its ten-day tally to
$132.3M. The hold was a bit better than the 54% decline that
The Bourne
Supremacy experienced in its sophomore session three years ago when it faced
The
Village which bowed to the same numbers as
Rush Hour 3. Ultimatum marks the 13th
summer film to cross the $100M mark this year compared to ten at this same point
last year. With few good action pictures left this summer, the latest
Matt Damon
assassin pic should cruise to $210-220M making it the top-grossing installment
in the popular spy series.
The Simpsons Movie fell another 56% in its third outing to an estimated $11.1M.
That put the 17-day total at $152.2M for Fox with a final tally of around $175M
likely.
The $70M fantasy adventure
Stardust found
little magic at the box office in its opening weekend and collected just $9M in
ticket sales, according to estimates. Averaging a mild $3,548 from 2,540
locations, the PG-13 fairy tale pic starring
Michelle Pfeiffer,
Robert De Niro,
and
Claire Danes found itself in fourth place. Reviews were mostly positive, but
that did little to boost its performance at the cash registers.
In its second weekend, Buena Vista’s
Underdog fell 44% to an estimated $6.5M to
push its ten-day tally to $24.7M. A $40M final gross seems likely. The musical
Hairspray once
again enjoyed the best hold in the top ten dipping only 31% to an estimated
$6.4M in its fourth frame. With a robust $92.1M in the bank, the New Line hit
looks to reach the neighborhood of $110M.
The Adam Sandler comedy
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry followed with an
estimated $6M, down 44%, for a cume of $103.8M becoming the comedian’s eighth
$100M+ hit. Look for Universal to conclude its run with about $117M.
Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix fell 43% to an estimated $5.4M lifting the
domestic total to $272M making it the third biggest wizard pic after the first
and fourth installments. Overseas, the latest Hogwarts tale hit the $550M mark
propelling the global tally to an eye-popping $822M. Warner Bros. stablemate
No
Reservations was close behind with an estimated $3.9M, off 40%, for a $32.1M
sum. Final grosses should reach $285M and $40M, respectively.
Sony saw almost no takers for its kidpic sequel
Daddy Day Camp
which flopped in its opening weekend grossing an estimated $3.6M from 2,332
theaters for a miserable $1,522 average. The PG-rated film stars
Cuba Gooding
Jr. stepping in for Eddie Murphy who is currently having daddy issues of his
own. Murphy drove its predecessor Daddy Day Care to a $104.3M gross in 2003.
Since its Wednesday opening, Camp has collected just $5M in its first five days
which is less than what Care grossed in just its opening day alone.
Barely a blip on the radar in its opening weekend was the horror entry
Skinwalkers with
an estimated $565,000 from 737 theaters for an awful $767 average for After Dark
Films.
Three pictures fell from the top ten over the weekend. The Paramount/DreamWorks
sensation Transformers grossed an estimated $3.3M in its sixth frame, off 45%,
and boosted its stellar cume to $302.9M. The $145M-budgeted blockbuster looks to
end its domestic run with about $310M. Worldwide, it has already grossed over
$600M with more markets still to open.
Transformers currently sits at number 26
on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters and hopes to surpass
Pirates of
the Caribbean: At World’s End to become the third biggest hit of the summer
after Spider-Man 3 and
Shrek the Third.
Two of last weekend’s poor openers tumbled in their sophomore frames. The
Andy
Samberg comedy Hot Rod dropped 59% to an estimated $2.2M for a total of only
$11M for Paramount. Lionsgate’s girlpower flick
Bratz stumbled 64% to an
estimated $1.5M for a pitiful $7.6M sum. Final grosses should reach $14M and
$10M, respectively.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $135.7M which was up 31% from last year
when
Talladega Nights remained in first place with $22.1M; and up 35% from 2005
when Four Brothers debuted in the top spot with $21.2M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya,
www.BoxOfficeGuru.com
