“Shaft” is the man, er, movie!
Yes, to the delight of cliche-lovin’ film writers everywhere, the blaxploitation remake starring Samuel L. Jackson as one cool dude in leather topped the weekend box office with a strong, if not stellar, $21.1 million, according to estimates released today.
Slipping, sliding and falling to second place was last week’s chump “Gone in 60 Seconds”. Ticket sales were off 42 percent, down to an estimated $14.7 million for the critically maligned car-chaser flick.
The week’s other major debuts turned out to be weak debuts: The sci-fi toon “Titan A.E.” bowed in fifth place with an estimated $9.5 million; the latest (and last?) tepid Freddie Prinze Jr. romantic comedy, “Boys and Girls,” bagged sixth place with an estimated $7 mil.
Here’s a rundown of the weekend Top 10, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.:
1. “Shaft” ($21.1 mil; opening weekend) 2. “Gone in 60 Seconds” ($14.7 mil; $51.9 mil overall) 3. “Big Momma’s House” ($11.3 mil; $70.7 mil overall) 4. “M:I-2” ($10.9 mil; $176.1 mil overall) 5. “Titan A.E.” ($9.5 mil; opening weekend) 6. “Boys and Girls” ($7 mil; opening weekend) 7. “Dinosaur” ($5.8 mil; $120.5 mil overall) 8. “Gladiator” ($4.9 mil; $158.6 mil overall) 9. “Shanghai Noon” ($3.6 mil; $47.8 mil overall) 10. “Road Trip” ($3.1 mil; $60.2 mil overall)
