The stars of this week’s newest contenders for the box office crown, psuedo-CGI beauty Simone and the lovely Liz Hurley, sure would have looked nice wearing it, but they didn’t have a prayer against Mel Gibson’s former priest in Signs.
As box office dollars dwindle with the waning summer, the supernatural thriller won the heated battle for first place with a mere $14.3 million, while xXx failed to meet expectations that it would be the summer’s first three-peat at No. 1 with $13.7 million.
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams climbed a notch to third place, taking in $7.8 million in its third week.
The indie sleeper My Big Fat Greek Wedding continued to climb up the box office chart in its 19th week. With a $7.5 million weekend take, it came in at No. 4.
This weekend’s new releases, including Serving Sara, Simone and Undisputed, hardly put up a fight for the top spot. These wide releases weren’t expected to cause a commotion, though, since they each opened in fewer than 3,000 theaters.
In limited release, One Hour Photo, which opened Wednesday in New York and Los Angeles, grossed $315,000 from only seven theaters for a strong $45,000 average per theater.
This weekend’s top 12 films were down about 21 percent from last year with $63.8 million versus 2001’s $81.6 million. It was the sixth consecutive weekend the box office was down versus last year. The top 12 films were down about 35 percent compared to last weekend’s box office, which grossed $99.1 million.
THE TOP TEN
Buena Vista/Touchstone’s prediction that Signs would rise to the top once again came true. The PG-13 rated supernatural thriller took top honors with an ESTIMATED $14.3 million (-26%) at 3,453 theaters (+109 theaters; $4,159 per theater). Its cume is approximately $173.2 million.
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it stars Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix.
Revolution Studios and Columbia’s PG-13 action adventure thriller xXx lost its bid for first place, slipping to a close second with an ESTIMATED $13.7 million (-38%) at 3517 theaters (+129 theaters; $3,895 per theater). Its cume is approximately $106.7 million, making it the 13th film released this year to cross the $100 million mark.
Directed by Rob Cohen, it stars Vin Diesel, Asia Argento and Marton Csokas.
Miramax/Dimension Films’ PG rated family comedy Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams gained one spot this week, coming in third place in its third week with an ESTIMATED $7.8 million (-32%) at 3,307 theaters (theater count unchanged; per theater average dropped to a weak $2,359). Its cume is approximately $58.5 million.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez, it stars Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino.
IFC Films’ PG rated comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding continued to expand in its 19th week, climbing two notches to fourth place with an ESTIMATED $7.5 million at 1329 theaters (+269 theaters; $5,702 per theater). Its cume is approximately $61 million.
Directed by Joel Zwick, it stars Nia Vardalos and John Corbett.
Universal Picture’s PG-13 rated surfer girl pic Blue Crush placed fifth in its second week with an ESTIMATED $6.5 million at 3,015 theaters (+13 theaters; $2.156 per theater).
Directed by John Stockwell, it stars Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, Matthew Davis and Sanoe Lake.
Paramount’s PG-13 rated romantic comedy Serving Sara fared best of the week’s new releases and opened sixth to an ESTIMATED $6 million at 2154 theaters ($2,820 per theater).
Directed by Reginald Hudlin, it stars Elizabeth Hurley and Matthew Perry.
New Line’s PG-13 rated comedy Austin Powers in Goldmember fell two pegs to seventh place in its fifth week with a not so shagadellic ESTIMATED $5.6 million (-36%) at 2,805 theaters (-308 theaters; $2,005 per theater). Its cume is approximately $193.9 million.
Directed by Jay Roach, it stars Mike Myers, Beyonce Knowles and Michael Caine.
Miramax’s R rated urban drama Undisputed opened eighth with an ESTIMATED $4.7 million at only 1,102 theaters, with a solid $4,265 per theater average.
Directed by Walter Hill, it stars Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames.
New Line Cinema’s sophisticated PG-13 rated comedy Simone opened ninth with an ESTIMATED $4 million at 1,920 theaters ($2,109 per theater).
Directed by Andrew Niccol, it stars Al Pacino, Catherine Keener and Evan Rachel Wood.
Rounding out the Top Ten was Warner Bros.’ R rated thriller Blood Work, which took in an ESTIMATED $2.8 million at 2,203 theaters ($1,298 per theater).
Produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, it stars Eastwood.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of Fox Searchlight’s R rated drama One Hour Photo to an encouraging ESTIMATED $315,000 at seven theaters (a whopping $45,000 per theater).
Directed by Mark Romanek, it stars Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen and Michael Vartan.
EXPANSIONS
Fox Searchlight also saw its R rated comedy The Good Girl gain two notches as it expanded this week with an ESTIMATED $1.5 million at 188 theaters (+128 theaters; $8,245 per theater). Its cume after three weeks is approximately $3.1 million.
Directed by Miguel Arteta, it stars Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly.
