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Star Wars leads inmate comedies at US box office
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Tuesday, 31 May 2005
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A trio of movies, led once again by the final "Star Wars" installment, ruled the North American box office during the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, leaving everything else in a galaxy far, far away.
"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" earned $70.8 million for the four days beginning Friday, followed by two promising new releases: the animal cartoon "Madagascar" with $61 million, and the Adam Sandler prison football remake "The Longest Yard" with $60 million.
Two holdover comedies pairing Oscar-winning veterans with younger stars rounded out the top five, each falling two places: "Monster-in-Law," starring Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez, with $11.1 million; and "Kicking & Screaming," starring Robert Duvall and Will Ferrell, with $6.6 million.
Overall sales continued their downward trajectory for a 14th consecutive weekend, when compared with the year-ago period. Industry observers blame the drought on such factors as a paucity of durable adult-targeted fare, rising ticket prices and competition from DVDs. Sales this weekend totaled $225 million, down 5.5 percent from last year's record haul, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
"Revenge of the Sith" has earned $271.2 million after 12 days, well ahead of its two most recent predecessors, 2002's "Attack of the Clones" and 1999's "The Phantom Menace," which were each around $200 million at the same time. The global total for "Sith" stood at $504.4 million after 11 days.
The "Star Wars" films were released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp., which receives a fee from series creator George Lucas.
"MADAGASCAR" MEETS EXPECTATIONS
"Madagascar," featuring the voices of Ben Stiller and Chris Rock, revolves around a quartet of critters who escape from a zoo. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., whose stock price tumbled earlier this month after the company posted lower-than-expected earnings due to weak quarterly DVD sales for its summer 2004 smash "Shrek 2."
The new film's debut was in line with expectations, said Jim Tharp, head of domestic theatrical distribution at DreamWorks SKG, which handled the release for a fee. Exit surveys indicated that 79 percent of adults rated it excellent or very good, a figure considered to be slightly above average. By contrast, Sunday night sneak previews of the upcoming Russell Crowe boxing movie "Cinderella Man" garnered a 98 percent rating, according to distributor Universal Pictures.
"The Longest Yard," a remake of a 1974 Burt Reynolds film, stars Sandler in the Reynolds role as a disgraced football star who leads a prison team in a game against the guards. Reynolds co-stars in the remake, as does Rock and rapper Nelly.
The $82 million film was co-financed by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, which is handling domestic distribution, and Sony Corp.'s Columbia Pictures. The opening was at the upper end of expectations, said Wayne Lewellen, Paramount's domestic distribution president. Viacom's MTV Films partnered on the release.
It also marks the best opening for Sandler, with its three-day (Friday-Sunday) haul of $48.1 million, surpassing the equivalent $42 million bow of "Anger Management" in 2003.
New Line Cinema's "Monster-in-Law" has earned $60.7 million, and Universal's "Kicking & Screaming" $44.2 million, both after three weekends. New Line is a unit of Time Warner Inc. . Universal Pictures is a unit of NBC Universal, which is majority owned by General Electric Co. .
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