HOLLYWOOD - Sahara left the box office competition high and dry this weekend.The action-adventure flick starring Matthew McConaughey as a master explorer on a treasure hunt in one of the world's most treacherous deserts opened in the top spot with $18.5 million. It pushed last week's champ, the graphic Sin City, down to second place with $14.1 million.
The other newcomer this weekend, Fever Pitch--a romantic comedy directed by the Farrelly brothers about a career woman (Drew Barrymore) who stumbles into a relationship with a man (Jimmy Fallon) whose world revolves around the Boston Red Sox--debuted in third with a somewhat disappointing $13 million. "It may have alienated guys with too much romance, and it may have alienated women with too much baseball," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press.
This weekend, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $80.2 million, down 17.72 percent from last weekend's $97.5 million take and down 18.02 percent from this time last year's draw of $97.9 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Newmarket's R-rated The Passion of the Christ, which saw a resurgence over the Easter weekend and came in at No. 1 in its seventh week with $15.2 million in 3,240 theaters, averaging $4,697 per theater; Sony Pictures' PG-13 rated Hellboy, which dropped to second place in its second week with $10.8 million in 3,043 theaters, averaging $3,557 per theater; and Fox Searchlight's PG-13 rated Johnson Family Vacation, which opened in third place with $9.3 million in 1,317 theaters, averaging $7,119 per theater.
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BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES:
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Sahara (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $18.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,154
• Per-theater average: $5,866
No. 2: Sin City (Dimension Films, R)
• Gross: $14.1 million (-52%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,230 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $4,370
• Cume to date: $50.7 million
No. 3: Fever Pitch (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $13 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,267
• Per-theater average: $3,979
No. 4: Guess Who (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.1 million TIE (-44%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,064 (-83)
• Per-theater average: $2,317
• Cume to date: $51.1 million
No. 5: Beauty Shop (MGM, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.1 million TIE (-45%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,659 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,670
• Cume to date: $26.4 million
No. 6: Robots (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $4.6 million (-53%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,713 (-313)
• Per-theater average: $1,714
• Cume to date: $111 million
No. 7: Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $4.1 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,011 (-222)
• Per-theater average: $1,370
• Cume to date: $37.4 million
No. 8: The Pacifier (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $3 million (-48%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,375 (-476)
• Per-theater average: $1,277
• Cume to date: $100.4 million
No. 9: The Ring Two (DreamWorks, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.9 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,407 (-772)
• Per-theater average: $1,205
• Cume to date: $72.3 million
No. 10: Upside of Anger (New Line, R)
• Gross: $2.6 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 1,151 (+40)
• Per-theater average: $2,259
• Cume to date: $12.3 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Kung Fu Hustle (Sony Pictures Classics, R)
• Gross: $293,025
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 7
• Per-theater average: $41,861