HOLLYWOOD - As expected, Batman Begins, a worthy revival of the superhero franchise, easily took the top spot with $46.9 million. The film debuted on Wednesday and has grossed $71 million in total. Even though Batman Begins took in a heroic amount, overall movie revenues skidded for the 17th-straight weekend, tying a slide in 1985 that had been the longest box-office decline since analysts began keeping detailed records on movie grosses, The Associated Press reports.
Some believe the slump is due to an increase in DVD revenue. An Associated Press-AOL poll last week found that 73 percent of adults prefer watching movies on DVD, videotape or pay-per-view rather than going to the theater. Studio executives blame the downturn on a comparatively weak lineup of movies this year and say it will take more time to determine if DVDs and other home-entertainment options are eroding theater business.
"Certainly, we need to look at that, but I believe you can't do it by looking at six months. I think you have to take a couple of years to look at it," Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros. told AP. "We're still product-driven, and even though there were and will continue to be strong movies in the summer, I don't think there have been enough of them."
The weekend's only other new wide release, Hilary Duff's The Perfect Man, opened with a weak $5.5 million, less than half the $13.6 million debut for the teen queen's 2004 romance A Cinderella Story.
This weekend, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $128.4 million, down 6.94 percent from last weekend's $138 million take and down 1.61 percent from this time last year's draw of $130.5 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: 20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, which opened in the No. 1 spot with $30 million in 2,694 theaters, averaging $11,162 per theater; DreamWorks' PG-13 rated The Terminal, which opened in second place with $19 million in 2,811 theaters, averaging $6,778 per theater; and Warner Bros. PG-13 rated Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which dropped to third place in its third week with $18 million in 3,805 theaters, averaging $4,738 per theater.
(This week's box office Top 10 below...)
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES:
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Batman Begins (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $46.9 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,858
• Per-theater average: $12,166
• Cume to date: $71 million (opened Wednesday)
No. 2: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $27.3 million (-46%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,451 (+27)
• Per-theater average: $7,911
• Cume to date: $97.9 million
No. 3: Madagascar (DreamWorks, PG)
• Gross: $11.1 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,533 (-396)
• Per-theater average: $3,142
• Cume to date: $147.2 million
No. 4: Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $9.7 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,933 (-399)
• Per-theater average: $3,319
• Cume to date: $347.8 million
No. 5: The Longest Yard (Paramount Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $8 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,312 (-342)
• Per-theater average: $2,415
• Cume to date: $131.9 million
No. 6: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (Miramax, PG)
• Gross: $6.6 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,655 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $2,498
• Cume to date: $23.9 million
No. 7: The Perfect Man (Universal, PG)
• Gross: $5.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,087
• Per-theater average: $2,635
No. 8: Cinderella Man (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.2 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,610 (-210)
• Per-theater average: $1,992
• Cume to date: $43.6 million
No. 9: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $3.1 million (-44%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,206 (-377)
• Per-theater average: $1,437
• Cume to date: $30.2 million
No. 10: The Honeymooners (Paramount Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.5 million (-54%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,912 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,344
• Cume to date: $9.4 million
OTHER OPENINGS
My Summer of Love (Focus Features, R)
• Gross: $90,554
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 17
• Per-theater average: $5,327