HOLLYWOOD - Columbus may have discovered America, but Hollywood made its own big discovery at the Columbus Day weekend box office, which is that it doesn't pay to open too many films at once. Only two of the weekend's half-dozen wide openings managed to crack the Top Five. Despite all the new competition, it was Red Dragon that again took the biggest bite out of moviegoers' wallets with $17.6 million.
Sweet Home Alabama remained a sexy second with $14.1 million.
Brown Sugar, the sweetest of the new wide arrivals, finished third with $11.1 million.
The Transporter rolled into fourth place with $9.2 million.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a jolly fifth with $7.9 million, off only 4 percent. With over $158 million on hand, it's heading for $175 million.
The weekend's biggest box office punch came from Revolution Studios and Columbia's limited launch of Punch-Drunk Love with $380,000 at five theaters -- a mind boggling $76,000 per theater for the critically acclaimed Paul Thomas Anderson romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler. (For details, see OTHER OPENINGS below.)
Despite the lack of any Top Five blockbuster openings, key films jumped 25.5 percent over last year -- $100.3 million versus $79.87 million.
THE TOP TEN
Universal and Dino De Laurentiis's R rated thriller Red Dragon, presented in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, topped the chart again in its second weekend with an ESTIMATED $17.61 million (-52%) at 3,363 theaters (+6 theaters; $5,235 per theater). Its cume is approximately $63.2 million.
Directed by Brett Ratner, it stars Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
"We're very thankful that we're number one in a weekend where there's been seven new openings (at 200 or more theaters)," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning.
"The business (this weekend) is tremendous and might be $100 million when all is said and done. And having the number one film two weeks in a row with so many openings is something to be really grateful for."
Dragon's 52 percent slide, she noted, is "not unusual for sequel or prequel films. It's not unusual for a film to take a drop like that. But with not much opening wide but one film next week, I think we're going to play out. We're at $62.2 million at the end of this weekend and this certainly will break $100 million. That puts it in the blockbuster category and it's something to celebrate."
Buena Vista/Touchstone's PG-13 rated romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama fell one peg to second place in its second week, showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $14.1 million (-34%) at 3,313 theaters (+10 theaters; $4,256 per theater). Its cume is approximately $85.0 million, heading for $125 million or more in domestic theaters.
Directed by Andy Tennant, it stars Reese Witherspoon.