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`2 Fast 2 Furious` races to No. 1 at box office
Los Angeles,June 09:Street-racing movie sequel `2 Fast 2 Furious` beat a computer-animated clown fish to the finish line at the North American box office, grossing $52.1 million its first three days in theaters, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
Los Angeles,June 09:Street-racing movie sequel "2 Fast 2 Furious" beat a computer-animated clown fish to the finish line at the North American box office, grossing $52.1 million its first three days in theaters, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
The follow-up to 2001's super-charged action film featuring fast cars and hot, young actors surpassed the $40.1 opening of the original "The Fast and the Furious" to give distributor Universal Pictures its second consecutive wide release to open at No. 1 with more than $50 million in ticket sales.
Universal's last film, the Jim Carrey comedy "Bruce Almighty," lorded over the box office two weeks ago with $68 million in its first three days and nearly $86 million for the entire four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Last week's No. 1 film, the animated undersea adventure "Finding Demo," about a clown fish trying to rescue his son from an aquarium, ranked No. 2 this weekend with $45.8 million in Friday-through-Sunday ticket sales.
"Nemo," the latest collaboration from Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios Inc., saw its cumulative box-office total rise to $143.3 million. It grossed more than $70 million last weekend, the biggest bow ever for an animated feature.
"Bruce Almighty," starring Carrey as a TV newsman who gets to play God, grossed $21.7 million in its third weekend, sliding a notch to No. 3 and boosting its tally to $170.8 million.
As expected, "2 Fast," rated PG-13, did well with its target audience of young moviegoers, despite the sequel's absence of muscled action hero Vin Diesel. Universal's exit-polling showed that 75 percent of the film's audience was under age 25, divided 55 percent male, 45 percent female.
Shifting from the Los Angeles street-racing scene to a new location in Miami, the John Singleton-directed sequel stars Paul Walker (an undercover cop in the first film), and an ethnically diverse cast including recording star Tyrese, rapper-actor Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and actresses Devon Aoki and Eva Mendes.
Overall movie business in the United States and Canada was robust, with the top 12 films collectively grossing $157 million, up 52 percent over the same weekend a year ago, according to box office tracking service Exhibitor Relations Co.
Studio executives attributed the healthy numbers to a broad mix of motion pictures in the marketplace, from family friendly fare like "Nemo," "Bruce Almighty" and "Daddy Day Care" to action-heavy movies like "2 Fast 2 Furious," "The Italian Job," "The Matrix Reloaded" and "X2: X-Men United."
"There's something for everybody out there," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal .
It was the third weekend in a row that overall receipts topped year-ago sales -- and the second straight week of double-digit increases -- putting Hollywood on track to reverse its first-quarter box-office slump.
Landing at No. 4 in its second weekend was another movie featuring a car chase, caper film "The Italian Job," a remake of a 1969 Michael Caine film, which grossed $13.3 million as it added play dates to another 244 theaters. The sci-fi action adventure "The Matrix Reloaded" was No. 5 with $9.1 million in ticket sales.
Rounding out the top 10 this weekend were: the Eddie Murphy comedy "Daddy Day Care" at No. 6 with 4.8 million, followed by "X2" (No. 7, $3 million), the thriller "Wrong Turn" (No. 8, $2.65 million), the Albert Brooks comedy "The In-Laws" (No. 9, $2 million), and the arthouse hit "Bend It Like Beckham" (No. 10, $975,000).
Bureau Report
Universal's last film, the Jim Carrey comedy "Bruce Almighty," lorded over the box office two weeks ago with $68 million in its first three days and nearly $86 million for the entire four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Last week's No. 1 film, the animated undersea adventure "Finding Demo," about a clown fish trying to rescue his son from an aquarium, ranked No. 2 this weekend with $45.8 million in Friday-through-Sunday ticket sales.
"Nemo," the latest collaboration from Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios Inc., saw its cumulative box-office total rise to $143.3 million. It grossed more than $70 million last weekend, the biggest bow ever for an animated feature.
"Bruce Almighty," starring Carrey as a TV newsman who gets to play God, grossed $21.7 million in its third weekend, sliding a notch to No. 3 and boosting its tally to $170.8 million.
As expected, "2 Fast," rated PG-13, did well with its target audience of young moviegoers, despite the sequel's absence of muscled action hero Vin Diesel. Universal's exit-polling showed that 75 percent of the film's audience was under age 25, divided 55 percent male, 45 percent female.
Shifting from the Los Angeles street-racing scene to a new location in Miami, the John Singleton-directed sequel stars Paul Walker (an undercover cop in the first film), and an ethnically diverse cast including recording star Tyrese, rapper-actor Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and actresses Devon Aoki and Eva Mendes.
Overall movie business in the United States and Canada was robust, with the top 12 films collectively grossing $157 million, up 52 percent over the same weekend a year ago, according to box office tracking service Exhibitor Relations Co.
Studio executives attributed the healthy numbers to a broad mix of motion pictures in the marketplace, from family friendly fare like "Nemo," "Bruce Almighty" and "Daddy Day Care" to action-heavy movies like "2 Fast 2 Furious," "The Italian Job," "The Matrix Reloaded" and "X2: X-Men United."
"There's something for everybody out there," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal .
It was the third weekend in a row that overall receipts topped year-ago sales -- and the second straight week of double-digit increases -- putting Hollywood on track to reverse its first-quarter box-office slump.
Landing at No. 4 in its second weekend was another movie featuring a car chase, caper film "The Italian Job," a remake of a 1969 Michael Caine film, which grossed $13.3 million as it added play dates to another 244 theaters. The sci-fi action adventure "The Matrix Reloaded" was No. 5 with $9.1 million in ticket sales.
Rounding out the top 10 this weekend were: the Eddie Murphy comedy "Daddy Day Care" at No. 6 with 4.8 million, followed by "X2" (No. 7, $3 million), the thriller "Wrong Turn" (No. 8, $2.65 million), the Albert Brooks comedy "The In-Laws" (No. 9, $2 million), and the arthouse hit "Bend It Like Beckham" (No. 10, $975,000).
Bureau Report