HOLLYWOOD - Let's hear it for a little Brotherly love.John Singleton's vigilante bloodbath Four Brothers, starring Mark Wahlberg, debuted on top this weekend with $20.7 million, while the creepy, black magical The Skeleton Key, starring Kate Hudson, opened in second position with $15.8 million.
Other newcomers this weekend included the raucous Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, which opened in fifth place with $9.4 million, and the WWII drama The Great Raid, which premiered at No. 10 with $3.3 million.
This rather lackluster weekend did nothing to improve on the continuing box office slump. "It was a fairly unremarkable weekend at the box office," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office-tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press. "August usually is a slowdown month."
The Top 12 films grossed an estimated $103.4 million, down 15.89 percent from last year's draw of $123 million but slightly up .18 percent from last weekend's $103.2 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: 20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated Alien vs. Predator, which opened in the No. 1 spot with $38.2 million in 3,395 theaters, averaging $11,279 per theater; Buena Vista's G- rated The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which opened in second with $22.9 million in 3,472 theaters, averaging $3,472 per theater; and DreamWorks R-rated Collateral, which dropped to third place in its second week with $16.1 million in 3,205 theaters, averaging $5,047 per theater. (Click here to read last year's box office report)
(This week's box office Top 10 below...)
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Four Brothers (Paramount, R)
• Gross: $20.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,533
• Per-theater average: $8,172
No. 2: The Skeleton Key (Universal Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $15.8 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,771
• Per-theater average: $5,702
No. 3: The Dukes of Hazzard (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $13 million (-58%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,785 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,443
• Cume to date: $57.4 million
No. 4: The Wedding Crashers (New Line, R)
• Gross: $12 million (-25%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 3,131 (+25)
• Per-theater average: $3,841
• Cume to date: $164 million
No. 5: Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (Sony Pictures, R)
• Gross: $9.4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,127
• Per-theater average: $3,006
No. 6: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $7.2 million (-34%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 3,304 (-398)
• Per-theater average: $2,197
• Cume to date: $183.7 million
No. 7: March of the Penguins (Warner Independent, G)
• Gross: $6.7 million (-5%)
• Weeks opened: 12
• Theaters: 2,063 (+196)
• Per-theater average: $3,262
• Cume to date: $37.6 million
No. 8: Sky High (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $6.1 million (-32%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,807 (-105)
• Per-theater average: $2,173
• Cume to date: $43.3 million
No.9: Must Love Dogs (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $4.5 million (-38%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,420 (-85)
• Per-theater average: $1,895
• Cume to date: $34.6 million
No. 10: The Great Raid (Miramax, R)
• Gross: $3.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 819
• Per-theater average: $4,120
OTHER OPENINGS
Grizzly Man (Lions Gate, R)
• Gross: $265,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 29
• Per-theater average: $9,138
Pretty Persuasion (IDP/Samuel Goldwyn, NR)
• Gross: $62,400
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 8
• Per-theater average: $7,800
Asylum (Paramount Classics, R)
• Gross: $39,212
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 5
• Per-theater average: $7,842