HOLLYWOOD - Flightplan circles around the box office competition for the second week.Jodie Foster's latest action thriller Flightplan stayed at No.1 with $15 million, while the sci-fi actioner Serenity, a continuation of writer-director Joss Whedon's cult TV series Firefly, debuted in second place with $10.1 million.
David Cronenberg's intense A History of Violence, which opened limitedly last week, went to a wider release and came in fourth place with $8.2 million. Into the Blue, a treasure-hunting romp in the Bahamas with Jessica Alba and Paul Walker, opened in fifth place with $7 million, while The Greatest Game Ever Played, a rousing golf flick, came in at No. 9 with $3.7 million.
The Top 12 films grossed an estimated a four-day total of $75.3 million, down 14.35 percent from last year's draw of $101.7 million and down 25.97 percent from last weekend's $87.9 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: DreamWorks' PG-rated Shark Tale, which opened at the No. 1 spot with $47.6 million in 4,016 theaters, averaging $11,854 per theater; Buena Vista's PG-13 rated Ladder 49, which debuted in second place with $22 million in 3,260 theaters, averaging $6,776 per theater; and Sony Pictures' PG-13 The Forgotten, which dropped to third in its second week with $11.8 million in 3,144 theaters, averaging $3,760 per theater. (Click here to read last year's box office report)
(This week's box office Top 10 below...)
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES (Four-Day Totals)
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Flightplan (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $15 million (-39%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,424 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $4,392
• Cume to date: $46.1 million
No. 2: Serenity (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $10.1 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,188
• Per-theater average: $4,616
No. 3: Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $9.7 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,204 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,045
• Cume to date: $32.9 million
No. 4: A History of Violence (New Line, R)
• Gross: $8.2 million (+1489%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,340 (+1,326)
• Per-theater average: $6,119
• Cume to date: $8.9 million
No. 5: Into the Blue (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,789
• Per-theater average: $2,510
No. 6: Just Like Heaven (DreamWorks, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.1 million (-37%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,543 (+34)
• Per-theater average: $1,722
• Cume to date: $38.4 million
No. 7: The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.4 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,004 (-41)
• Per-theater average: $1,465
• Cume to date: $68.5 million
No. 8: Roll Bounce (Fox Searchlight, PG-13)
• Gross: $4 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,661 (+36)
• Per-theater average: $2,423
• Cume to date: $68.5 million
No. 9: The Greatest Game Ever Played (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $3.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,014
• Per-theater average: $3,697
No. 10: The 40 Year-Old Virgin (Universal, R)
• Gross: $3.1 million (-28%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 2,152 (-429)
• Per-theater average: $1,441
• Cume to date: $101.4 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Capote (Sony Pictures Classics, R)
• Gross: $348,978
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 12
• Per-theater average: $29,082
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (DreamWorks, PG-13)
• Gross: $155,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 41
• Per-theater average: $3,780