The high-octane sequel The Transporter 2, with star Jason Statham reprising his role as top-notch driver Frank Martin, debuted at No. 1 this Labor Day Weekend with a four-day total of $20.2 million, beating out reigning champ The 40 Year-Old Virgin, which came in second with $16.6 million.
Transporter 2 now stands at the best Labor Day opener ever, topping 2003's Jeepers Creepers 2, which opened with $18.3 million, and also took in more than twice the haul than the original Transporter, which made $9.1 million in its three-day opening weekend in October 2002.
Of the other newcomers this weekend, only the well-reviewed The Constant Gardener, starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz in a John Le Carre suspense thriller, managed to make it to the Top 10, premiering in third place with $10.8 million.
The other two new wide releases were soundly trashed by critics and generally ignored by audiences. The Underclassman, an action comedy starring Nick Cannon, flopped with just $3.1 million, while the sci-fi adventure A Sound of Thunder, with Edward Burns and Ben Kingsley, bombed with a paltry $1.15 million.
The Top 12 films grossed an estimated a four-day total of $96.3 million, up 15.69 percent from last year's draw of $83.3 million but the three-day totals of $77.3 were down 3.84 percent from last weekend's $80.4 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Miramax's PG-13 Hero, which stayed in the No. 1 spot for the second week with $11.5 million in 2,092 theaters, averaging $5,504 per theater; Paramount Pictures' PG-13 rated Without a Paddle, which moved up to second place in its third week with $9 million in 2,756 theaters, averaging $3,271 per theater; and Sony Pictures' PG-13 Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, which dropped to third in its second week with $8 million in 2,905 theaters, averaging $2,757 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: Transporter 2 (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
Gross: $20.2 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 3,303
Per-theater average: $6,131
No. 2: The 40 Year-Old Virgin (Universal, R)
Gross: $16.6 million (-20%)
Weeks opened: 3
Theaters: 2,901 (+33)
Per-theater average: $5,722
Cume to date: $71.9 million
No. 3: The Constant Gardener (Focus Features, R)
Gross: $10.8 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 1,346
Per-theater average: $8,026
No. 4: Red-Eye (DreamWorks, PG-13)
Gross: $ 9.3million (-26%)
Weeks opened: 3
Theaters: 3,134 (+43)
Per-theater average: $2,967
Cume to date: $45.4 million
No. 5: The Brothers Grimm (Miramax, PG-13)
Gross: $7.9 million (-55%)
Weeks opened: 2
Theaters: 3,098 (+11)
Per-theater average: $2,560
No. 6: Four Brothers (Paramount, R)
Gross: $6.4 million (-37%)
Weeks opened: 4
Theaters: 2,435 (-214)
Per-theater average: $2,628
Cume to date: $64.3 million
No. 7: The Wedding Crashers (New Line, R)
Gross: $5.7 million (-23%)
Weeks opened: 8
Theaters: 2,390 (-321)
Per-theater average: $2,390
Cume to date: $195.7 million
No. 8: March of the Penguins (Warner Independent, G)
Gross: $5.4 million (-11%)
Weeks opened: 15
Theaters: 2,506 (+112)
Per-theater average: $2,161
Cume to date: $63.4 million
No. 9: The Skeleton Key (Universal Pictures, PG-13)
Gross: $4.1 million (-28%)
Weeks opened: 4
Theaters: 2,414 (-370)
Per-theater average: $1,698
Cume to date: $43.8 million
No. 10: The Cave (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
Gross: $3.7 million (-52%)
Weeks opened: 2
Theaters: 2,195
Per-theater average: $1,686
OTHER OPENINGS
The Underclassman (Miramax, PG-13)
Gross: $3 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 1,132
Per-theater average: $2,717
A Sound of Thunder (Warner Bros., PG-13)
Gross: $1.1 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 816
Per-theater average: $1,415
