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Newcomers ignored as summer box office fades
2007-08-28
Hollywood attempted to squeeze a few more dollars out of a record summer by launching a handful of midrange movies that mostly came up short at the North American box office during the weekend. But the strength of the holdovers kept the ticket-takers busy, especially Sony Pictures' raunchy comedy "Superbad," which held down the top spot for the second weekend in a row with three-day sales of $18.04 million, according to final data issued Monday. Following in the footsteps of "Spider-Man 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "Superbad" became only the third summer release to reign as leader of the pack for two weekends in a row. Its total rose to $68.62 million. Summer-to-date, The Hollywood Reporter estimates that total box office has reached an estimated $4.11 billion, surpassing the record of $4.009 billion set during summer 2004. In its fourth weekend of release, Universal Pictures' second-ranked spy chase "The Bourne Ultimatum" collected $12.47 million, taking its total to $185.25 million. New Line Cinema's action comedy "Rush Hour 3," in its third weekend, attracted nearly $11.71 million as it crossed the $100 million mark -- the 19th film this year to do so -- and reached a domestic total of $108.47 million. British comedian Rowan Atkinson's "Mr. Bean's Holiday" proved the most potent of the weekend's new arrivals. The Universal release, already a hit internationally, scored $9.89 million to squeeze into fourth place overall. Hot on its heels was Lionsgate's action pic "War," starring Jet Li and Jason Statham, which grossed $9.82 million. Finishing in sixth place was MGM's release of the Weinstein Co.'s "The Nanny Diaries," a satirical look at child care on New York's Upper East side starring Scarlett Johansson and Laura Linney. Its weekend gross was just $7.48 million. The Yari Film Group's "Resurrecting the Champ," Rod Lurie's dramatic study of the relationship between a sportswriter and a down-on-his-luck boxer starring Josh Hartnett and Samuel L. Jackson, suffered a TKO with a $1.66 million start at No. 15. Right behind it, in 16th place, Universal's crime tale "Illegal Tender" earned $1.43 million -- although it played in one-third the number of theaters as "Resurrecting the Champ." The most painful debut of the weekend belonged to director Christopher Cain's "September Dawn," the re-creation of a 19th century massacre committed by a band of Mormons. Released through Slowhand Releasing, the film earned just $901,857. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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