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America shuns
movie houses in droves
Horrors! 'Alien vs. Predator' is
weekend's No. 1
By Diego Vasquez
Not everyone swims, tumbles or plays basketball. But it's an
easy guess that a good share of Americans were watching at least bits and pieces of the
Olympics on its opening weekend.
Certainly a lot fewer of them were venturing out to the movies--nearly 10
percent fewer than last year.
But then again it wasn't a very exciting weekend for movie debuts, with
Hollywood anticipating that the Summer Games would keep people home.
By default, Twentieth Century Fox’s “Alien vs.
Predator,” based on the videogame that features leads from the two successful movie
franchises, finished in the top spot in its first week, grossing $38.25 million.
According to the tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, ticket sales for the
top-12 movies were down 8 percent year-to-year this weekend, to $121.8 million.
Based on typical recent weekends, “Alien vs. Predator” was
hardly a great opening. Two weeks ago "The Village" opened with $50.75 million,
No. 1 in its first week. The week before that, "Bourne Supremacy" opened with
$52.52 million. And one week before that, "I, Robot" opened with $52.18 million.
But the chill-thriller does have the distinction of being N0. 1, and Twentieth
Century Fox can console itself that it would have done better on another weekend.
On Sept. 3, the studio will release “Paparazzi,” about an
actor out for revenge after photographers cause an accident that injures his wife and son.
A month later, on Oct. 8, the studio will release “Taxi,” a vehicle featuring
the unlikely pairing of Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifah.
Before “Alien vs. Predator,” Twentieth Century Fox’s previous
five well-received debuts were “I, Robot,” “Dodgeball: A True Underdog
Story,” “Garfield,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Man on
Fire.”
Two other film debuts made the top 10 this weekend: “Princess Diaries 2:
The Royal Engagement” opened at No. 2 with $23.02 million in ticket sales, and
“Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie” came in at No. 4 with $9.36 million.
Last week’s No. 1, the Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx adventure
“Collateral,” came in at No. 3 with $16 million in sales. The Matt Damon action
sequel “The Bourne Supremacy” rounded out the top five with $8.3 million in
ticket sales.
Though partly derived from the popular Sigourney Weaver “Alien” and
Arnold Schwarzenegger “Predator” films, “Alien vs. Predator” had a
higher debut than any movie in either of those franchises.
“Alien 3” brought in $19.5 million in its debut in 1992, while
“Predator” earned $12 million in 1987.
TOP MOVIES
Weekend Box Office Estimates
Weekend of Aug. 13- 15 |
| Rank |
MOVIE |
Engagements |
Box
office (millions) |
| 1 |
Alien vs. Predator
(Fox) |
3395 |
$38.25 |
| 2 |
Princess Diaries 2:
The Royal Engagement (Buena Vista) |
3472 |
$23.02 |
| 3 |
Collateral
(Dreamworks) |
3205 |
$16.00 |
| 4 |
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie
(Warner Bros.) |
2411 |
$9.36 |
| 5 |
The Bourne Supremacy
(Universal) |
2976 |
$8.30 |
| 6 |
The Village (Buena
Vista) |
3142 |
$7.03 |
| 7 |
The Manchurian
Candidate (Paramount) |
2612 |
$6.00 |
| 8 |
Little Black Book
(Sony) |
2445 |
$3.70 |
| 9 |
I, Robot (Fox) |
2178 |
$3.57 |
| 10 |
Spider-Man 2 (Sony) |
1907 |
$3.40 |
| Source:
Yahoo Movies |
TOP DVD RENTALS
Week ending Aug. 8 |
| Rank |
MOVIE |
| 1 |
Cold Mountain (Buena
Vista) |
| 2 |
Secret Window
(Columbia TriStar) |
| 3 |
Mystic River (Warner
Home Video) |
| 4 |
The Butterfly Effect
(Warner Home Video) |
| 5 |
Hellboy (Columbia
TriStar) |
| 6 |
Starsky & Hutch
(Warner Home Video) |
| 7 |
The Whole Ten Yards
(Warner Home Video) |
| 8 |
The Big Bounce
(Warner Home Video) |
| 9 |
13 Going on 30
(Columbia TriStar) |
| 10 |
Hidalgo (Buena
Vista) |
| Source:
Blockbuster |
BESTSELLING ALBUMS
Week ending August 8 |
| Rank |
TITLE |
Last week |
Weeks
on chart |
| 1 |
Ashlee Simpson,
Autobiography |
2 |
3 |
| 2 |
Various Artists, Now
16 |
1 |
2 |
| 3 |
Jimmy Buffett,
License to Chill |
4 |
4 |
| 4 |
Usher, Confessions |
5 |
20 |
| 5 |
Gretchen Wilson,
Here For the Party |
6 |
13 |
| 6 |
Avril Lavigne, Under
My Skin |
11 |
11 |
| 7 |
Prince, Musicology |
15 |
16 |
| 8 |
Big & Rich,
Horse of a Different Color |
10 |
14 |
| 9 |
Los Lonely Boys, Los
Lonely Boys |
12 |
24 |
| 10 |
Maroon 5, Songs
About Jane |
17 |
65 |
| Source:
Billboard |
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending Aug. 7 |
| Fiction
(hardback) |
| Rank |
TITLE |
Last week |
Weeks
on chart |
| 1 |
The Da Vinci Code by
Dan Brown |
1 |
73 |
| 2 |
Skinny Dip by Carl
Hiaasen |
4 |
4 |
| 3 |
R is for Ricochet by
Sue Grafton |
3 |
4 |
| 4 |
Lost City by Clive
Cussler with Paul Kemprecos |
2 |
2 |
| 5 |
The Five People You
Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom |
7 |
46 |
| Nonfiction
(hardback) |
| 1 |
American Soldier by
Tommy Franks with Malcolm McConnell |
- |
1 |
| 2 |
My Life by Bill
Clinton |
1 |
7 |
| 3 |
Eats, Shoots, &
Leaves by Lynne Truss |
2 |
18 |
| 4 |
Imperial Hubris by
Anonymous |
3 |
4 |
| 5 |
Dress Your Family In
Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris |
4 |
10 |
| Fiction
(paperback) |
| 1 |
The Notebook by
Nicholas Sparks |
1 |
69 |
| 2 |
Hello, Darkness by
Sandra Brown |
5 |
3 |
| 3 |
The Teeth of the
Tiger by Tom Clancy |
- |
2 |
| 4 |
Angels & Demons
by Dan Brown |
4 |
57 |
| 5 |
The Wedding by
Nicholas Sparks |
2 |
6 |
| Nonfiction
(paperback) |
| 1 |
The 9/11 Commission
Report |
1 |
3 |
| 2 |
Reading Lolita in
Tehran by Azar Nafisi |
2 |
32 |
| 3 |
Lies (And the Lying
Liars Who Tell Them) by Al Franken |
3 |
2 |
| 4 |
Dude, Where’s
My Country? By Michael Moore |
4 |
5 |
| 5 |
The Devil in the
White City by Erik Larson |
- |
26 |
| Source:
New York Times |
USA Today BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending August 8 |
| Rank |
TITLE |
Last week |
| 1 |
The 9/11 Commission
Report |
1 |
| 2 |
American Soldier by
Tommy Franks with Malcolm McConnell |
- |
| 3 |
The Notebook by
Nicholas Sparks |
2 |
| 4 |
Angels & Demons
by Dan Brown |
3 |
| 5 |
The Da Vinci Code by
Dan Brown |
4 |
| 6 |
The Wedding by
Nicholas Sparks |
5 |
| 7 |
The Teeth of the
Tiger by Tom Clancy |
7 |
| 8 |
Hello, Darkness by
Sandra Brown |
6 |
| 9 |
Beach Girls by
Luanne Rice |
- |
| 10 |
The South Beach Diet
by Arthur Agatston |
11 |
| Source:
USA Today |
|
Aug. 16,
2004 © 2004 Media Life
- Diego Vasquez is a
staff writer for Media Life.
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