Paramount’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider vanquished carping critics over the weekend as the adaptation of the popular video game took in $47.7 million. The take was more than twice that of its closest rival, Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which earned $20.3 million. Meanwhile, after five weeks, DreamWorks’ Shrek continued to pull them in, earning $13.2 million and bringing its gross to $197.5 million. Last week’s box-office winner, Swordfish, sank to fourth place with $12.7 million, while Pearl Harbor continued to spiral downward with $9.9 million, for fifth place. Total sales were up about 31 percent from the same weekend a year ago, rising to $128.5 million for the top 12 films, according to box-office trackers Exhibitor Relations.
The top 10 films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Paramount, $47,735,743, (New); 2. Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Disney, $20,342,105, ($20,843,465); 3. Shrek, DreamWorks, $13,181,576, ($197,528,004); 4. Swordfish, Warner Bros., $12,725,519, ($39,779,248); 5. Pearl Harbor, Disney, $9,859,120, ($160,358,492); 6. Evolution, DreamWorks, $6,615,219, ($25,562,723); 7. The Animal, Sony, $5,804,106, ($45,471,728); 8. Moulin Rouge, 20th Century Fox, $5,030,265, ($36,629,874); 9. What’s The Worst That Could Happen?, MGM, $3,007,054, ($27,723,009); 10. The Mummy Returns, Universal, $2,701,040, ($193,482,730).
