The Chinese indie Hero, which stars Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi as high-flyin’ Chinese swordsmen, came out in the top spot for the second weekend in a row this Labor Day holiday with $8.8 million, followed close behind by the goofy road trip comedy Without a Paddle at $7 million. That sneaky snake tale Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid dropped to third with $6.2 million.
This week, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $64.6 million, down 23.95 percent from last weekend’s $84.8 million take and way down from this weekend last year by almost 30 percent.
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES: (Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Hero (Miramax, PG-13)
Gross: $8.8 million (-51%)
Weeks opened: 2
Theaters: 2,092
Per-theater average: $5,513
Cume to date: $35 million
No. 2: Without a Paddle (Paramount, PG-13)
Gross: $7 million (-18%)
Weeks opened: 3
Theaters: 2,756
Per-theater average: $3,411
Cume to date: $40.2 million
No. 3: Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
Gross: $6.2 million (-51%)
Weeks opened: 2
Theaters: 2905
Per-theater average: $2,754
Cume to date: $23.8 million
No. 4: Paparazzi (Fox, PG-13)
Gross: $6.1 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 2115
Per-theater average: $3,712
No. 5: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (Buena Vista, G)
Gross: $5.4 million (-33%)
Weeks opened: 4
Theaters: 3,139 (-159)
Per-theater average: $2,330
Cume to date: $75 million
No. 6: Wicker Park (MGM, PG-13)
Gross: $5.4 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 2598
Per-theater average: $2,598
No. 7: Collateral (DreamWorks, R)
Gross: $5 million (-23%)
Weeks opened: 5
Theaters: 2348
Per-theater average: $2,768
Cume to date: $80.1 million
No. 8:Vanity Fair (Focus, PG-13)
Gross: $4.8 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 1051
Per-theater average: $5,821
No. 9: The Cookout (Lions Gate, PG-13)
Gross: $5 million
Weeks opened: NEW!
Theaters: 1303
Per-theater average: $4,682
No. 10: The Bourne Supremacy (Universal Pictures, PG-13)
Gross: $4.1 million (-12%)
Weeks opened: 7
Theaters: 1718
Per-theater average: $3,143
Cume to date: $157.7 million
