DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox's R rated adult appeal drama Road To Perdition, which was second last weekend, went wider and tied for the top spot in its second week with a solid ESTIMATED $15.6 million (-29%) at 2,159 theaters (+363 theaters; $7,225 per theater). Its cume is approximately $47.5 million.
Perdition's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Sam Mendes, it stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law.
"It's a great hold, down 29 percent in a summer where movies drop 40 percent and more from opening weekend -- so it's a fantastic hold," DreamWorks distribution head Jim Tharp said Sunday morning, adding that word of mouth about the film is "very good."
Looking ahead, Tharp said, "We'll add a few runs this week, not many." As for where Road is heading in domestic theaters, he said, "It's really difficult to tell at this point."
Given Road's mostly favorable reviews, insiders are already talking about it as a likely nominee for Golden Globes and Oscars later this year.
Columbia's PG-13 rated blockbuster sequel Men In Black II slid two pegs to third place in its third week with a still enviable ESTIMATED $15.0 million (-39%) at 3,641 theaters (+30 theaters; $4,120 per theater). Its cume is approximately $158.6 million.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, it stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith.
"It continues to add up," Sony's Jeff Blake said. "The drop in the 30-percents at this point shows that this picture really is in it for the long run, as well. I think we certainly have high hopes to get to $200 million and beyond (in domestic theaters)."
Paramount and Intermedia Films' opening of their PG-13 rated Russian submarine drama K-19: The Widowmaker sank in fourth place with a grim ESTIMATED $13.1 million at 2,828 theaters ($4,632 per theater).
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson.
"Obviously, we were looking for a little more than this, but if you look at the market overall it's off about 25 to 30 percent versus last week and last year for the same period and I don't really know why," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning.
"Our tracking indicated that we would do maybe $18-20 million on K-19 so I fully expected a $15-20 million opening. If you put another 25 percent on our number, you're going to be right there (where it was expected to open). So it seems to be the market overall. People just didn't come out to the movies for some reason."
Assessing K-19's opening, a competing distributor suggested, "I think they did the best they could. The movie had no playability and they weren't able to market it. They took all the cliche shots of the submarine. They almost hid the fact that (Ford's character) was a Russian. (Moviegoers) just didn't buy him in that role."