Despite efforts from Nicolas Cage and action star Jason Statham this Labor Day weekend, Mark Wahlberg’s inspired football drama Invincible held onto to its No. 1 spot for the second week, taking in a four-day total of $15 million at the North American box office.
While Statham’s adrenaline-pumped flick Crank opened in second place with $13 million, it wasn’t able to beat his last actioner, Transporter 2, which topped Labor Day charts with $20.1 million last year. Cage’s horror remake Wicker Man debuted in third with $11.7 million.
The other newcomer this weekend, the hip-hop basketball drama Crossover, failed to make the top 10, grossing $4.5 million, while the mysterious Edward Norton/Paul Giamatti starrer The Illusionist opened wider, coming in at fifth place with $8 million.
The top 12 movies grossed $98.6 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, up 1.05 percent from last year’s draw of $97.6 but the three-day total of $78 million was down 7.43 percent from last weekend’s total of $84 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: 20th Century Fox’s Transporter 2, which opened No. 1 with $20.1 million in 3,303 theaters, averaging $6,087 per theater; Universal’s The 40 Year-Old Virgin, which dropped to second place in its second week of release with $16.5 million in 2,901 theaters, averaging $5,700 per theaters; and Focus Features’ The Constant Gardener, which opened in third place with $10.9 million in 1,346 theaters, averaging $8,144 per theaters (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES (Four-Day Totals)
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Invincible (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $15.2 million (-30%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,921 (+4)
• Per-theater average: $5,206
• Cume to date: $37.8 million
No. 2: Crank (Lions Gate, R)
• Gross: $13 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,515
• Per-theater average: $5,169
No. 3: Wicker Man (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $11.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,784
• Per-theater average: $4,210
No. 4: Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight, R)
• Gross: $9.7 million (+3%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 1,602 (+172)
• Per-theater average: $6,071
• Cume to date: $35.8 million
No. 5: The Illusionist (Yari Film Group, PG-13)
• Gross: $8 million (+246%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 971 (+827)
• Per-theater average: $8,261
• Cume to date: $12 million
No. 6: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.7 million (-25%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 3,001 (-369)
• Per-theater average: $2,566
• Cume to date: $138.3 million
No. 7: Barnyard (Paramount, PG)
• Gross: $6.4 million (-15%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,907 (-904)
• Per-theater average: $2,203
• Cume to date: $63.5 million
No. 8: Accepted (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.9 million (-28%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,822 (-95)
• Per-theater average: $2,095
• Cume to date: $29.4 million
No. 9: World Trade Center (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.8 million (-29%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,902 (-119)
• Per-theater average: $2,004
• Cume to date: $63.7 million
No. 10: Step Up (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.4 million (-25%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,553 (-94)
• Per-theater average: $2,149
• Cume to date: $58.3 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Idiocracy (20th Cent Fox, R)
• Gross: $160,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 130
• Per-theater average: $1,231
