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Lara Croft proves no match for Spy Kids
Los Angeles, July 31: Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over beat Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in a weekend box-office derby that pitted the two new action sequels against each other and the potentially Oscar-bound horse-racing saga Seabiscuit.
Los Angeles, July 31: Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over beat Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in a weekend box-office derby that pitted the two new action sequels against each other and the potentially Oscar-bound horse-racing saga Seabiscuit.
According to studio estimates released on Sunday, the third installment in the Spy Kids adventure series about the sleuthing Cortez family grossed $32.5 million during its first three days, beginning Friday, to rank No. 1 in North American ticket sales this weekend.
The Spy Kids trilogy as a whole has generated $230.8 million since 2001 for Dimension Films, a division of the Walt Disney Co.-owned Miramax Films. In the latest tale, the two Cortez kids travel inside a 3-D video game to capture a world-destroying villain played by Sylvester Stallone.
Bob Weinstein, Miramax`s co-chairman, credited the new sequel`s strong opening in a summer movie season that has been rough on sequels to goodwill earned by the first two films.
"When you get the franchise right and [audiences] have such an enjoyable experience, you build a brand name," Weinstein told Reuters. "The 3-D was something fresh. Parents hadn`t seen that in a long time and wanted to turn their kids on to it." Disney`s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a swashbuckling adventure with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, hung onto the No. 2 slot with $22.4 million in ticket sales during its third weekend. Last weekend`s box-office winner, Bad Boys II, the action-packed buddy comedy starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, fell to third place with $22 million in its second weekend in release by Sony Pictures.
Paramount Pictures` Cradle of Life opened in fourth place with $21.7 million, well below the $47 million debut of the 2001 film, which introduced moviegoers to the voluptuous British archeologist made popular in video games.
Wayne Lewellen, Paramount`s president of distribution, said stiff box-office competition and weaker sales of the new Lara Croft video game may have eroded the film`s core fan base.
"We didn`t anticipate that the competition level would be quite where it`s at." Lewellen said. "This is the first time ever that we`ve had five movies gross over $20 million on a three-day weekend."
Fifth-place finisher Seabiscuit took in $21.5 million in the most limited release of the weekend`s top 10 films, opening in fewer than 2,000 theaters.
The film`s distributors at Universal Pictures hope to sustain demand for the true story of a 1930s-era misfit racehorse and the men who made him a champion in theaters through the fall to heighten its chances of winning Oscar gold. A Universal spokesman said exit polling showed Seabiscuit was on track to enjoy strong word-of-mouth recommendation.
Over the weekend, moviegoers shelled out a total of $145.6 million on the top-grossing 12 films, a nearly 10 percent increase over the same weekend last year, according to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 10 films for July 25-27 1. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, $32.5 million 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, $22.4 million 3. Bad Boys II, $22 million 4. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, $21.8 million 5. Seabiscuit, $21.5 million 6. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, $5 million 7. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, $4.9 million 8. Johnny English, $4.3 million 9. Finding Nemo, $4 million 10. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, $2.7 million
Bureau Report
The Spy Kids trilogy as a whole has generated $230.8 million since 2001 for Dimension Films, a division of the Walt Disney Co.-owned Miramax Films. In the latest tale, the two Cortez kids travel inside a 3-D video game to capture a world-destroying villain played by Sylvester Stallone.
Bob Weinstein, Miramax`s co-chairman, credited the new sequel`s strong opening in a summer movie season that has been rough on sequels to goodwill earned by the first two films.
"When you get the franchise right and [audiences] have such an enjoyable experience, you build a brand name," Weinstein told Reuters. "The 3-D was something fresh. Parents hadn`t seen that in a long time and wanted to turn their kids on to it." Disney`s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a swashbuckling adventure with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, hung onto the No. 2 slot with $22.4 million in ticket sales during its third weekend. Last weekend`s box-office winner, Bad Boys II, the action-packed buddy comedy starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, fell to third place with $22 million in its second weekend in release by Sony Pictures.
Paramount Pictures` Cradle of Life opened in fourth place with $21.7 million, well below the $47 million debut of the 2001 film, which introduced moviegoers to the voluptuous British archeologist made popular in video games.
Wayne Lewellen, Paramount`s president of distribution, said stiff box-office competition and weaker sales of the new Lara Croft video game may have eroded the film`s core fan base.
"We didn`t anticipate that the competition level would be quite where it`s at." Lewellen said. "This is the first time ever that we`ve had five movies gross over $20 million on a three-day weekend."
Fifth-place finisher Seabiscuit took in $21.5 million in the most limited release of the weekend`s top 10 films, opening in fewer than 2,000 theaters.
The film`s distributors at Universal Pictures hope to sustain demand for the true story of a 1930s-era misfit racehorse and the men who made him a champion in theaters through the fall to heighten its chances of winning Oscar gold. A Universal spokesman said exit polling showed Seabiscuit was on track to enjoy strong word-of-mouth recommendation.
Over the weekend, moviegoers shelled out a total of $145.6 million on the top-grossing 12 films, a nearly 10 percent increase over the same weekend last year, according to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 10 films for July 25-27 1. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, $32.5 million 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, $22.4 million 3. Bad Boys II, $22 million 4. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, $21.8 million 5. Seabiscuit, $21.5 million 6. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, $5 million 7. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, $4.9 million 8. Johnny English, $4.3 million 9. Finding Nemo, $4 million 10. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, $2.7 million
Bureau Report