Despite five new wide releases opening in theaters over Labor Day weekend, Ben Stiller’s comedy Tropic Thunder (DreamWorks) held its ground, remaining at #1 for the third weekend in a row, Stiller’s second movie to achieve that rare honor after Night at the Museum in 2007. It grossed another estimated $14.3 million, down just 12% from last weekend, and brought its total gross to $86.6 million. Projected by some to take the top spot this weekend, Vin Diesel’s sci-fi action flick Babylon A.D. (20th Century Fox) instead grossed just $12 million in 3,390 theaters (the weekend’s widest new release) with a weak average of $3,500 per site. After four weeks at #1 before dropping down to fourth place last week, Christopher Nolan’s action-thriller The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) not only crossed the $500 million mark domestically yesterday, a feat only accomplished once before by James Cameron’s Titanic, but it also moved back up a notch to third place with $11 million over the extended weekend for a total of $504.7 million. Internationally, The Dark Knight added $19.2 million for an overseas gross of $417 million. Combined, it has earned a massive $921.7 million worldwide and has climbed to the 9th spot on the all-time worldwide blockbuster list. The Dark Knight pulled ahead of last week’s #2, the Sony comedy The House Bunny with Anna Farris, which dropped to fourth place with an estimated $10.2 million and an 11-day gross of $29.7 million. Opening on Wednesday and grossing $1.5 million before Friday, the political thriller Traitor (Overture Films) starring Don Cheadle added another $10 million over the four-day weekend in just over 2,000 theaters, claiming the best per-site average for a new wide release. With a reported production budget of just $22 million (compared to $70 million for Babylon A.D.), it’s quite a victory for Overture and first-time director Jeffrey Nachmanoff. Univeral’s remake of Death Race starring Jason Statham dropped 35% from its opening weekend, settling for sixth place with $8.2 million and a total gross of $25 million. The last nail in the coffin of the spoof movie trend was pounded home with the awful opening for Disaster Movie (Lionsgate), making just $6.8 million in its first four days, compared to the $19 million opening for Meet the Spartans just six months back. With the help of a new Sing-A-Long version released for one week only into 299 theaters, Universal’s hit musical Mamma Mia! grossed $5.8 million over the holiday weekend, up 34% from last weekend despite losing 358 theaters. Apparently, the Sing-A-Long did 20% of the movie’s weekend business, as it brought its box office total to $133.9 million. The top 10 was rounded out by Seth Rogen’s action-comedy Pineapple Express (Sony) with $4.5 million and a total gross of $80 million, while Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona (MGM/Weinstein Co.), starring Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson, moved up a notch with $3.5 million and $13.3 million total while still playing in less than 700 theaters. With the best per-theater average in the Top 10, it looks like Allen is on his way to another hit, his first since Match Point. Opening well outside the Top 10 at #14, MGM’s long-delayed College, picked up when Lionsgate dropped it, grossed just $2.6 million in 2,123 theaters. After opening in limited release last week, Focus Features’ R-rated comedy Hamlet 2, starring Steve Coogan, expanded wider into 1,597 theaters on Wednesday, but only grossed $2.1 million, enough for 17th place. The Top 10 grossed an estimated $86.4 million over the four-day holiday weekend, down a whopping 26% from last Labor Day when Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake set a new box office record for the holiday with $31 million in its first four days. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films. Show Comments |
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