Adam Sandler and Kevin James‘ comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry edged out Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the North American box office this weekend, taking in $34.7 million. Order of the Phoenix came in a close second with $32.2 million.
But the slight difference in rankings could change when final weekend figures come out Monday. “I think it’ll be decided Monday morning,” Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., told The Associated Press.
Fellman also said the movie lost some business this weekend because of the mania over Saturday’s publication of J.K. Rowling’s final book in the fantasy series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. “They wanted to get that book Saturday, lock themselves in the house and read it, because they didn’t want their other friends by Monday telling them who made it and who didn’t,” said Fellman.
Meanwhile, the movie musical Hairspray, starring John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer, debuted solidly in third place with $27.8 million.
The Top 12 movies took in $147.6 million, up 3.54 percent from last year’s total of $142.6 million but down 14.08 percent from last weekend’s total of $171.8 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Buena Vista’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which stayed at No. 1 in its third week with $35.2 million in 4,133 theaters, averaging $8,520 per theater; Sony’s Monster House, which opened in second place with $22.2 million in 3,553 theaters, averaging $6,253 per theater; and Universal’s Lady in the Water, which opened in third place with $18 million in 3,235 theaters, averaging $5,578 per theater. (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $34.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,495
• Per-theater average: $9,950
No. 2: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $32.1 million (-58%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 4,285 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $7,511
• Cume to date: $207.5 million
No. 3: Hairspray (New Line, PG)
• Gross: $27.8 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,121
• Per-theater average: $8,907
No. 4: Transformers (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $20.5 million (-45%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,762 (-288)
• Per-theater average: $5,451
• Cume to date: $262.9 million
No. 5: Ratatouille (Disney, G)
• Gross: $11 million (-39%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 3,402 (-223)
• Per-theater average: $3,233
• Cume to date: $165.6 million
No. 6: Live Free or Die Hard (Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.3 million (-35%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,727 (-474)
• Per-theater average: $2,677
• Cume to date: $116.4 million
No. 7: License to Wed (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $3.7 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,525
• Per-theater average: $1,489
• Cume to date: $38.6 million
No. 8: 1408 (MGM, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.6 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 1,451 (-755)
• Per-theater average: $1,792
• Cume to date: $67.5 million
No. 9: Evan Almighty (Universal, PG)
• Gross: $2.4 million (-50%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 1,779 (-918)
• Per-theater average: $1,380
• Cume to date: $93.4 million
No. 10: Knocked Up (Universal, R)
• Gross: $2.3 million (-37%)
• Weeks opened: 8
• Theaters: 1,288 (-422)
• Per-theater average: $1,800
• Cume to date: $142.7 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Sunshine (Fox Searchlight, R)
• Gross: $235,477
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 10
• Per-theater average: $23,548
Goya’s Ghost (Samuel Goldwyn, R)
• Gross: $166,600
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 49
• Per-theater average: $3,400
Cashback (Magnolia, NR)
• Gross: $14,800
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 9
• Per-theater average: $1,644
