Nicolas Cage’s comic-book adaptation Ghost Rider took the top spot at the North American box office for the second week with $19.7 million, burning up the rush of new movies.
“It set the bar so high last weekend that for any newcomers, it was going to be real tough film to beat,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers told The Associated Press.
The psychological thriller The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey as a man obsessed with the mysterious power of that digit, opened in second place with $15.1 million, while the police spoof Reno 911!: Miami debuted in fourth with $10.4 million. Rounding out the newcomers, Billy Bob Thornton’s The Astronaut Farmer opened in ninth place with $4.5 million.
The Top 12 movies grossed $101.6 million over the weekend, up 1.27 percent from last year’s draw of $100.3 million but down 28.38 percent from last weekend’s total of $141.8 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Lions Gate’s Madea’s Family Reunion, which opened at No. 1 with $30 million in 2,194 theaters, averaging $13,688 per theater; Buena Vista’s Eight Below, which dropped to second place in its second week with $15.8 million in 3,072 theaters, averaging $5,167 per theater; and Sony’s The Pink Panther, which stayed in third place in its third week with $11 million in 3,313 theaters, averaging $3,351 per theater (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES:
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Ghost Rider (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $19.7 million (-57%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,620 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $5,442
• Cume to date: $78.6 million
No. 2: The Number 23 (New Line, R)
• Gross: $14.9 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,759
• Per-theater average: $5,401
No. 3: Bridge to Terabithia (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $13.5 million (-40%)
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,139 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $4,324
• Cume to date: $46.2 million
No. 4: Reno 911!: Miami (20th Cent Fox, R)
• Gross: $10.4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,702
• Per-theater average: $3,849
No. 5: Norbit (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $9.7 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,145 (+7)
• Per-theater average: $3,096
• Cume to date: $74.6 million
No. 6: Music and Lyrics (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $8 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,955 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,707
• Cume to date: $32 million
No. 7: Breach (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.1 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,493 (+4)
• Per-theater average: $4,125
• Cume to date: $20.4 million
No. 8: Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls (Lionsgate, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.2 million (-53%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,111 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,487
• Cume to date: $25.6 million (opened Wednesday)
No. 9: The Astronaut Farmer (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $4.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,155
• Per-theater average: $2,095
No. 10: Amazing Grace (Roadside Pictures, PG)
• Gross: $4.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 791
• Per-theater average: $5,442
OTHER OPENINGS
The Abandoned (After Dark Films, R)
• Gross: $700,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,000
• Per-theater average: $700
Starter for 10 (Picturehouse, PG-13)
• Gross: $40,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 20
• Per-theater average: $2,000
Gray Matters (Yari Film Group, PG-13)
• Gross: $26,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 15
• Per-theater average: $1,733
