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Box Office Analysis, May 1: ‘R.V.’ Zooms Past ‘United 93’

It was neck and neck, but opener R.V. raced to the top of the North American box office this weekend with $16.4 million, just ahead of the 9/11 drama United 93, which debuted in second with $11.6 million.

The Robin Williams road trip comedy was expected to debut on top, The Associated Press reports, but United 93 had Hollywood analysts wondering whether moviegoers were ready to relive the horrors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Playing in 1,795 theaters, about half as many as R.V., United 93 averaged a solid $6,462 a cinema–the best results among the Top-10 movies.

“We can now kind of put to bed any idea that people are not ready to see this type of movie. The numbers speak for themselves,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told AP.

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Also opening this weekend was the gymnastics comedy Stick It, which landed the bronze medal with $11.2 million, while the Laurence FishburneAngela Bassett spelling bee drama Akeelah and the Bee came in at No. 8 with $6.2 million.

The Top 12 films this week grossed an estimated $90.6 million, down 9.56 percent from last weekend’s total of $100.2 million but up 12 percent from last year’s draw of $80.9 million.

The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Buena Vista’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which debuted at No. 1 with $21.1 million in 3,133 theaters, averaging $6,736 per theater; Universal’s The Interpreter, which dropped to second place in its second week with $13.8 million in 2,764 theaters, averaging $5,005 per theaters; and Sony’s XXX: State of the Union, which debuted in third place with $12.7 million in 3,480 theaters, averaging $3,653 per theaters (Click here to read last year’s box office report).

BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES

(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)

No. 1: R.V. (Sony Pictures, PG)

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• Gross: $16.4 million

• Weeks opened: NEW!

• Theaters: 3,639

• Per-theater average: $4,507

No. 2: United 93 (Universal, R)

• Gross: $11.6 million

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• Weeks opened: NEW!

• Theaters: 1,795

• Per-theater average: $6,462

No. 3: Stick It (Buena Vista, PG-13)

• Gross: $11.2 million

• Weeks opened: NEW!

• Theaters: 2,038

• Per-theater average: $5,523

No. 4: Silent Hill (Sony Pictures, R)

• Gross: $9.3 million (-54%)

• Weeks opened: 2

• Theaters: 2,932 (+6)

• Per-theater average: $3,172

• Cume to date: $34.2 million

No. 5: Scary Movie 4 (Weinstein Co., PG-13)

• Gross: $7.8 million (-54%)

• Weeks opened: 3

• Theaters: 3,418 (-255)

• Per-theater average: $2,284

• Cume to date: $78.1 million

No. 6: The Sentinel (20th Century Fox., PG-13)

• Gross: $7.6 million (-47%)

• Weeks opened: 2

• Theaters: 2,851 (+29)

• Per-theater average: $2,666

• Cume to date: $22.5 million

No. 7: Ice Age: The Meltdown (20th Century Fox, PG)

• Gross: $7 million (-47%)

• Weeks opened: 5

• Theaters: 3,122 (-418)

• Per-theater average: $2,258

• Cume to date: $177.7 million

No. 8: Akeelah and the Bee (Lions Gate, PG)

• Gross: $6.2 million

• Weeks opened: NEW!

• Theaters: 2,195

• Per-theater average: $2,847

No. 9: The Wild (Disney, G)

• Gross: $4.7 million (-43%)

• Weeks opened: 3

• Theaters: 2,605 (-249)

• Per-theater average: $1,812

• Cume to date: $28.4 million

No. 10: The Benchwarmers (Sony Pictures, PG-13)

• Gross: $4.4 million (-39%)

• Weeks opened: 4

• Theaters: 2,695 (-399)

• Per-theater average: $1,633

• Cume to date: $52.7 million

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