LAST WEEKEND Audiences were fired up for the first-ever showdown between martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li as their new fantasy actioner The Forbidden Kingdom opened at number one at theaters across North America. Those in search of laughs powered the starless breakup comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall into second place with a strong debut of its own. Targeting different audiences, the one-two punch was enough to propel the overall box office ahead of last year's levels by a respectable margin.Lionsgate scored its first top spot debut of the year with Kingdom which grossed $21.4M from 3,151 theaters over the weekend, according to final studio figures. The PG-13 adventure film averaged a solid $6,792 per location and saw much of its support from young male audiences and fans of martial arts movies. In the film, an American teen mysteriously travels back to ancient China and embarks on a quest to free the famed Monkey King. Chan and Li, who each got to play a double role, provided the starpower to pull in paying audiences. Reviews were mixed.
Opening in second place with a solid debut of its own was the raunchy relationship comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall which grossed $17.7M from 2,798 theaters. The R-rated pic about a man coping with being dumped by his celebrity girlfriend averaged a commendable $6,335 and played best to adult women. The Sarah bow was below what producer Judd Apatow has seen in the past with his R-rated summer comedies The 40-Year-Old Virgin ($21.4M), Knocked Up ($30.7M), and Superbad ($33.1M). However, it was stronger than the debuts of his latest offerings Walk Hard ($4.2M) and Drillbit Taylor ($10.3M). Since the surprise success of Virgin in 2005, studios have used Apatow's name and resume to market anything he remotely has been involved in.
Sony claimed three of the next four slots. Last weekend's number one film Prom Night crumbled by 58% to $8.7M and pushed its ten-day tally to $32.1M. A $45M final seems likely.
The Al Pacino crime drama 88 Minutes was rejected by moviegoers and collected only $7M in its opening weekend. The Sony release averaged a mild $3,209 from 2,168 locations and was panned by critics from coast to coast. The R-rated pic opened in numerous other countries around the world last year and was finally dumped into the late spring graveyard in the North American market.
The kid adventure Nim's Island grossed $5.7M, off 38%, giving Fox $32.9M to date. Sony's blackjack hit 21 followed dropping 47% to sixth place with $5.5M and upped its cume to $70M.
The Keanu Reeves cop thriller Street Kings tumbled in its second weekend falling 67% to $4.2M. With $20.1M in ten days, look for Fox Searchlight to finish with $25-27M. Toon smash Horton Hears a Who declined by just 41% to $3.5M leaving the year's top film with $144.4M. Next was was the George Clooney flop Leatherheads with $3M, down 51%, for a total of $26.6M ~ Boxofficeguru.
| # | Title | Apr 18 - 20 | Theaters | Cumulative | Distributor | ||||
| 1 | The Forbidden Kingdom | $ 21,401,121 | 3,151 | $ 21,401,121 | Lionsgate | ||||
| 2 | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | 17,725,330 | 2,798 | 17,725,330 | Universal | ||||
| 3 | Prom Night | 8,670,364 | 2,700 | 32,133,926 | Sony | ||||
| 4 | 88 Minutes | 6,957,216 | 2,168 | 6,957,216 | Sony | ||||
| 5 | Nim's Island | 5,687,072 | 3,277 | 32,894,115 | Fox | ||||
| 6 | 21 | 5,520,362 | 2,903 | 70,004,505 | Sony | ||||
| 7 | Street Kings | 4,179,505 | 2,469 | 20,058,143 | Fox Searchlight | ||||
| 8 | Horton Hears A Who | 3,511,834 | 2,670 | 144,418,495 | Fox | ||||
| 9 | Leatherheads | 3,049,465 | 2,798 | 26,605,235 | Universal | ||||
| 10 | Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed | 2,970,848 | 1,052 | 2,970,848 | Rocky Mountain | ||||
| 11 | Superhero Movie | 1,608,072 | 1,880 | 23,604,200 | MGM | ||||
| 12 | Smart People | 1,600,687 | 1,119 | 6,805,392 | Miramax | ||||
| 13 | The Ruins | 1,209,263 | 1,857 | 15,828,143 | Paramount | ||||
| 14 | Drillbit Taylor | 894,990 | 1,367 | 29,782,431 | Paramount | ||||
| 15 | Meet the Browns | 700,271 | 675 | 41,159,982 | Lionsgate | ||||
| 16 | 10,000 B.C. | 603,380 | 855 | 92,826,810 | Warner Bros. | ||||
| 17 | Under the Same Moon | 585,132 | 454 | 11,187,306 | Weinstein Co. | ||||
| 18 | Shine A Light | 567,933 | 220 | 3,755,976 | Par. Classics | ||||
| 19 | The Bank Job | 412,851 | 473 | 29,206,841 | Lionsgate | ||||
| 20 | College Road Trip | 406,528 | 650 | 42,918,585 | Buena Vista |
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