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Guess Who`s Back To Rule The Box Office?
Los Angeles, July 10: Arnold Schwarzenegger is back. The Austrian action hero grabbed the No. 1 slot at the North American box office on Sunday as his sci-fi thriller Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines led the field during the July 4 holiday weekend.
Los Angeles, July 10: Arnold Schwarzenegger is back. The Austrian action hero grabbed the No. 1 slot at the North American box office on Sunday as his sci-fi thriller Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines led the field during the July 4 holiday weekend.
The third movie in the Terminator franchise sold $44 million worth of tickets for the Friday-to-Sunday period, and a total of $72.5 million since opening on July 2. The movie sets a new record for Schwarzenegger, 55, who has not had a big hit in years. His previous best opening was Batman & Robin with $42.8 million in 1997. The last Terminator movie, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, opened with $31.7 million in 1991 and $52 million in its first five days.
"The nervousness is gone. Finally the baby's born, and it's in the public's hands," said Andrew Vajna, a producer of the film, which was reportedly budgeted at between $150 million and $175 million. The bow for Terminator 3 ranks as the second best for an R-rated film, after The Matrix Reloaded, which opened with $91.8 million in May. Studios are increasingly shying away from R-rated films, which require viewers under 17 to be accompanied by an adult, because of tighter marketing restrictions.
Jonathan Mostow (U-571) took over from James Cameron to direct Terminator 3, which also stars Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and newcomer Kristanna Loken as an evil cyborg. Schwarzenegger has said he was paid $30 million to star.
The top 10 contained two other new entries, which also opened in theaters last Wednesday to get an early start on the holiday moviegoing audience.
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, a comedy starring Reese Witherspoon as a fashionista who takes on the Washington establishment, was No. 2 with $22.9 million for the weekend, and $39.2 million for the five days. Its 2001 predecessor, Legally Blonde, sold $20 million in its first three days.
About 70 percent of the audience was female, and of those audience members, 62 percent were under 21, said Erik Lomis, the president of distribution at MGM, the film's distributor. The film cost less than $50 million, with Witherspoon taking a $15 million salary.
The cartoon Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas flopped at No. 6 with $6.8 million for the weekend and $10 million for the five days.
The film features the voices of such big names as Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but it was hampered by its use of traditional animation techniques rather than the computer-animated wizardry that has turned such films as Shrek and Finding Nemo into blockbusters.
DreamWorks Distribution President Jim Tharp was disappointed, but said he hoped the $60 million movie would do well on home video. Last weekend`s champion, Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle, slipped to No. 3 with $14.2 million after losing 62 percent of its audience — the biggest drop in the top 10. The action comedy`s 10-day total rose to $67.2 million.
Overall ticket sales fell for the fourth consecutive weekend when compared with the year-ago period, according to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 films earned about $127 million, down 9 percent from last year, when Sony`s Men in Black II led the box office to a July 4 holiday record with a $52 million three-day bow. The top 10 films for July 4-6 1. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, $44 million 2. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, $22.9 million 3. Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle, $14.2 million 4. Finding Nemo, $11 million 5. The Hulk, $8.2 million 6. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, $6.8 million 7. 28 Days Later, $6.1 million 8. The Italian Job, $4.3 million 9. Bruce Almighty, $4 million 10. 2 Fast 2 Furious, $2.4 million
Bureau Report
The third movie in the Terminator franchise sold $44 million worth of tickets for the Friday-to-Sunday period, and a total of $72.5 million since opening on July 2. The movie sets a new record for Schwarzenegger, 55, who has not had a big hit in years. His previous best opening was Batman & Robin with $42.8 million in 1997. The last Terminator movie, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, opened with $31.7 million in 1991 and $52 million in its first five days.
"The nervousness is gone. Finally the baby's born, and it's in the public's hands," said Andrew Vajna, a producer of the film, which was reportedly budgeted at between $150 million and $175 million. The bow for Terminator 3 ranks as the second best for an R-rated film, after The Matrix Reloaded, which opened with $91.8 million in May. Studios are increasingly shying away from R-rated films, which require viewers under 17 to be accompanied by an adult, because of tighter marketing restrictions.
Jonathan Mostow (U-571) took over from James Cameron to direct Terminator 3, which also stars Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and newcomer Kristanna Loken as an evil cyborg. Schwarzenegger has said he was paid $30 million to star.
The top 10 contained two other new entries, which also opened in theaters last Wednesday to get an early start on the holiday moviegoing audience.
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, a comedy starring Reese Witherspoon as a fashionista who takes on the Washington establishment, was No. 2 with $22.9 million for the weekend, and $39.2 million for the five days. Its 2001 predecessor, Legally Blonde, sold $20 million in its first three days.
About 70 percent of the audience was female, and of those audience members, 62 percent were under 21, said Erik Lomis, the president of distribution at MGM, the film's distributor. The film cost less than $50 million, with Witherspoon taking a $15 million salary.
The cartoon Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas flopped at No. 6 with $6.8 million for the weekend and $10 million for the five days.
The film features the voices of such big names as Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but it was hampered by its use of traditional animation techniques rather than the computer-animated wizardry that has turned such films as Shrek and Finding Nemo into blockbusters.
DreamWorks Distribution President Jim Tharp was disappointed, but said he hoped the $60 million movie would do well on home video. Last weekend`s champion, Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle, slipped to No. 3 with $14.2 million after losing 62 percent of its audience — the biggest drop in the top 10. The action comedy`s 10-day total rose to $67.2 million.
Overall ticket sales fell for the fourth consecutive weekend when compared with the year-ago period, according to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 films earned about $127 million, down 9 percent from last year, when Sony`s Men in Black II led the box office to a July 4 holiday record with a $52 million three-day bow. The top 10 films for July 4-6 1. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, $44 million 2. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, $22.9 million 3. Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle, $14.2 million 4. Finding Nemo, $11 million 5. The Hulk, $8.2 million 6. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, $6.8 million 7. 28 Days Later, $6.1 million 8. The Italian Job, $4.3 million 9. Bruce Almighty, $4 million 10. 2 Fast 2 Furious, $2.4 million
Bureau Report