HOLLYWOOD - As expected, Barbershop 2: Back in Business sheared the competition at the box office this weekend.Barbershop 2, the sequel to 2002's controversial hit comedy starring Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer, took the top spot with $25.1 million, clipping past last week's box office champ, the youthful hip hop dance flick You Got Served, which came in third with $7.7 million.
Barbershop 2's take makes it the fourth best February opener ever, behind Hannibal, which opened in 2001 with $58 million; Daredevil, which kicked off in 2003 to the tune of $40 million; and Scream 3, which took in $34.7 million when it premiered in 2000.
This week, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $92.7 million, up 26.45 percent from last week's $73.8 million, but down 9.12 percent from last year's $102.1 million.
Last year, Paramount Pictures' PG-13 rated comedy How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days debuted in the No. 1 spot with $23.7 million at 2,923 theaters with a $8,134 per theater average; Buena Vista's PG-13 rated buddy comedy Shanghai Knights kicked off in second place with $19.6 million in 2,753 theaters with a $7,121 per theater average; and Miramax's PG-13 rated musical Chicago came in third in its seventh week of release with $10.7 million in 1,841 theaters (+1,218 theaters) with a $5,859 per theater average.
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES (Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Barbershop 2: Back in Business (MGM, PG-13)
• Gross: $25.1 million
• Weeks opened: NEW
• Theaters: 2,711
• Per-theater average: $9,259
No. 2: Miracle (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $19.4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW
• Theaters: 2,605
• Per-theater average: $7,464
No. 3: You Got Served (Screen Gems, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.7 million (-52%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,943 (-10 theaters)
• Per-theater average: $3,963
• Cume to date: $26 million
No. 4: Along Came Polly (Universal Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $7 million (-25%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,958 (-94 theaters)
• Per-theater average: $2,375
• Cume to date: $75.2 million
No. 5: The Butterfly Effect (New Line, R)
• Gross: $6.7 million (-30%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,519 (-86 theaters)
• Per-theater average: $2,670
• Cume to date: $41.5 million
No. 6: Catch That Kid (Twentieth Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $6 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,844
• Per-theater average: $2,118
No. 7: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (New Line, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.3 million (-18%)
• Weeks opened: 8
• Theaters: 1,878 (-378 theaters)
• Per-theater average: $2,330
• Cume to date: $351.2 million
No. 8: Monster (New Market, R)
• Gross: $3.5 million (+4%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 892 (+224 theaters)
• Per-theater average: $3,931
• Cume to date: $15.2 million
No. 9: Mystic River (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $3.5 million (-20%)
• Weeks opened: 18
• Theaters: 1,370 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,555
• Cume to date: $69.8 million
No. 10: Cold Mountain(Miramax, R)
• Gross: $3.2 million (-20%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 1,917 (-583 theaters)
• Per-theater average: $1,691
• Cume to date: $82.8 million