HOLLYWOOD - The same two films leading the Top 10 for the third weekend in a row certainly proves summer is winding down. The box office flip-flopped, with the No. 2 guy, the Frat-Packed The Wedding Crashers, bumping reigning champ, the confectionary marvel Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, out of the lead. Crashers took in $20.4 million, while Charlie manage to cook up $16.3 million.
This week's newcomers, meanwhile, couldn't break into the top--including the Disney superhero tween flick Sky High, which came in third place with $14.5 million; the high-flyin' actioner Stealth, which came fourth spot with $13.5 million; and the Internet dating comedy Must Love Dogs, which rounded out the Top Five with $13 million.
"Audiences are so desperate to find a film they like, they're just hanging on to the same movies," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, told The Associated Press.
The Top 12 films grossed an estimated $112 million, down 21.30 percent from last year's draw of $142.3 million and also down 13.26 percent from last weekend's $129.1 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Buena Vista's PG-13 rated The Village, which opened in the No. 1 spot with $50.7 million in 3,730 theaters, averaging $13,605 per theater; Universal's PG-13 The Bourne Supremacy, which dropped to second place in its second week with $24.1 million in 3,180 theaters, averaging $7,600 per theater; and Paramount Pictures' R-rated The Manchurian Candidate, which debuted in third place with $20 million in 2,867 theaters, averaging $6,982 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: The Wedding Crashers (New Line, R)
• Gross: $20.4 million (-20%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,030 (+105)
• Per-theater average: $6,757
• Cume to date: $116 million
No. 2: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $16.3 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,775 (-15)
• Per-theater average: $4,340
• Cume to date: $148 million
No. 3: Sky High (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $14.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,905
• Per-theater average: $5,022
No. 4: Stealth (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $13.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,495
• Per-theater average: $3,495
No. 5: Must Love Dogs (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $13 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,505
• Per-theater average: $5,210
No. 6: Fantastic Four (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.8 million (-46%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,744 (-705)
• Per-theater average: $2,478
• Cume to date: $136.1 million
No. 7: The Island (Dreamworks, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.6 million (-55%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,138
• Per-theater average: $1,785
• Cume to date: $24 million
No. 8: War of the Worlds (Paramount Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.4 million (-39%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,324 (-941)
• Per-theater average: $2,339
• Cume to date: $218.3 million
No. 9: The Bad News Bears (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.4 million (-52%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,183 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,704
• Cume to date: $22.4 million
No. 10: The March of the Penguins (Warner Independent, G)
• Gross: $4.1 million
• Weeks opened: 10
• Theaters: 778 (+83)
• Per-theater average: $5,341
• Cume to date: $16.4 million
OTHER OPENINGS
The Aristocrats (ThinkFilm, R)
• Gross: $260,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 4
• Per-theater average: $65,000