HOLLYWOOD - The Ben Stiller comedy Dodgeball was anything but an underdog at the box office this Father’s Day weekend, pounding the competition with a sportsmanlike $30 million to take the No. 1 spot.Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story took a swipe at director Steven Spielberg's The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones, which passed the gate in second place with a grounded $18.7 million.
This week’s only other wide opener, Around the World in 80 Days, failed to go very far with moviegoers. The Jackie Chan laffer, which opened Wednesday, grossed a disappointing $6.8 million from Friday through Sunday, placing ninth at the box office.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Shrek 2 continued to dominate the Top Five. Azkaban took the No. 3 spot with a delightful $17.4 million while Shrek 2 came in fourth with a still-in-the-green $13.6 million.
Shrek 2’s weekend take brings the film’s cumulative to $378.3 million--enough to surpass The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to become the sixth highest domestic grossing film of all time.
The top 12 films this week grossed an estimated $136.9 million, down 10.21 percent from this time last year when they totaled $141.3 million, and down 17.3 percent from last week’s $153.4 million take.
The top three films at the box office this time last year were: Universal’s PG-13 rated The Hulk, which opened to $62.1 million in 3,660 theaters, averaging $16,975 per theater; Disney and Pixar’s G rated Finding Nemo, which took in $21.1 million in its fourth week of release in 3,404 theaters with a $6,210 per theater average; and Universal’s PG-13 rated 2 Fast 2 Furious, which took in $11 million in 3,140 theaters in its third week, with a $3,535 per theater average.
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES: (Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $30 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,694
• Per-theater average: $11,136
No. 2: The Terminal (DreamWorks, PG-13)
• Gross: $18.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,811
• Per-theater average: $6,652
No. 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $17.4 million (-50%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,805 (-50)
• Per-theater average: $4,576
• Cume to date: $190.3 million
No. 4: Shrek 2 (Dreamworks, PG)
• Gross: $13.6 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 3,306 (-537)
• Per-theater average: $4,114
• Cume to date: $378.3 million
No. 5: Garfield (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $11 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,150 (+56)
• Per-theater average: $3,492
• Cume to date: $42 million
No. 6: The Stepford Wives (Paramount Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $9.2 million (-57%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,057 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,009
• Cume to date: $39.4 million
No. 7: The Chronicles of Riddick (Universal Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $8.3 million (66%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,757 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,011
• Cume to date: $41.4 million
No. 8: The Day After Tomorrow (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $7.5 million (-48%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,667 (-543)
• Per-theater average: $2,831
• Cume to date: $166.7 million
No. 9: Around the World in 80 Days (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $6.8 million
• Weeks opened: NEW! (Opened Wednesday)
• Theaters: 2,801
• Per-theater average: $2,439
• Cume to date: $9.6 million
No. 10: Troy (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $1.7million (-50%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 1,303(-700)
• Per-theater average: $1,312
• Cume to date: $128.9 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Facing Windows (Sony Pictures Classic, R)
• Gross: $38,693
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 7
• Per-theater average: $5,528
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (Paramount Classics, NR)
• Gross: $14,463
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2
• Per-theater average: $7,232