HOLLYWOOD - Score another one for Ice Cube.The rapper-turned-actor churned out another No. 1 box office winner this weekend with his road trip comedy Are We There Yet?, which took in a respectable $18.5 million, pushing last week's champ Coach Carter into the second spot with $11 million.
"[Are We There Yet?] is a total family picture," Rory Bruer, president of distribution for Sony Pictures told The Associated Press. "It's very funny and Ice Cube did a terrific job. He's just hysterical in it."
The other newcomer Assault on Precinct 13, a remake of the 1976 John Carpenter "cult classic" about cops and criminals joining forces against a jail siege by gang members, took in $7 million in its first weekend and finished sixth in the box office tally.
This weekend, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $85.6 million, down 27.29 percent from last weekend's $117.7 million take but up 3.87 percent from last year's draw of $82.4 million.
The top three films at the box office this time last year were: New Line's R-rated The Butterfly Effect, which opened at No. 1 with $17 million in 2,605 theaters, averaging $6,551 per theater; Universal Pictures' PG-13 rated Along Came Polly dropped to second place in its second week with $16.3 million in 2,995 theaters, averaging $5,460 per theater; and DreamWorks' PG-13 rated Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, which opened in third place with $7.3 million in 2,711 theaters, averaging $2,700 per theater.
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES:
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Are We There Yet? (Sony Pictures, PG)
• Gross: $18.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,709
• Per-theater average: $6,829
No. 2: Coach Carter (Paramount Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $11 million (-55%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,552 (+28)
• Per-theater average: $4,310
• Cume to date: $43.2 million
No. 3: Meet the Fockers (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $10.2 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 3,446 (-108)
• Per-theater average: $2,960
• Cume to date: $247.7 million
No. 4: In Good Company (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $8.5 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 1,963 (+397)
• Per-theater average: $4,330
• Cume to date: $28 million
No. 5: Racing Stripes (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $7 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,185 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,217
• Cume to date: $27.3 million
No. 6: Assault on Precinct 13 (Focus Feature/Rogue Pictures, R)
• Gross: $7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,297
• Per-theater average: $3,057
• Cume to date: $8.5 million (opened Wednesday)
No. 7: Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $5 million (+39%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 1,511 (+604 in an expanded release)
• Per-theater average: $3,319
• Cume to date: $33.5 million
No. 8: White Noise (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $5 million (-59%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,247 (-32)
• Per-theater average: $2,225
• Cume to date: $49.4 million
No. 9: The Aviator (Miramax, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.8 million (-5%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,261 (+305)
• Per-theater average: $2,133
• Cume to date: $58 million
No. 10: Elektra (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $3.8 million (-70%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,204 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,194
• Cume to date: $20.2 million