No, it didn’t break any records … but no, it didn’t exactly underperform, either. No matter how you look at it, Steven Spielberg‘s "War of the Worlds" zapped a healthy chunk of change from our pockets during the July 4th weekend. Three-day frame: $64.5 million. Throw in the Monday holiday and the figure rises to $77.6 million. Toss the Wednesday opening and Thursday into the mix and you’re looking at a "War" chest worth just over $113 million.
Needless to say, the Tom Cruise sci-fi thriller handily snatched the #1 box office spot. Hanging on with impressive tenacity is "Batman Begins," which grossed $18.7 over the four-day weekend ($154m total), while third place went to the also rather buoyant "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which added over $12.5 million to a total tally of $146m.
Fourth place went to "Bewitched," which pulled in an extra $10.8 million, and "Herbie: Fully Loaded," which added $10.5m to its bottom line. Aside from "War of the Worlds," the only other wide release newcomer was the Martin Lawrence kids’ comedy "Rebound," which landed in 7th place with a $6 million weekend.
Next Friday sees the release of two new heavyweights, the Fox comic-book adaptation "Fantastic Four," and the Jennifer Connelly thriller "Dark Water."
As always, please feel free to stop by the Rotten Tomatoes Box Office Page for a closer look at the weekend monetary numerals.
