Weekend Box Office
1) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $43 million
2) Knocked Up $29 million
3) Shrek the Third $26 million
4) Mr. Brooks $10 million
5) Spider-Man 3 $7.5 million
6) Waitress $2 million
7) Gracie $1.3 million
8) Bug $1.2 million
9) 28 Weeks Later $1.2 million
10) Disturbia $1.1 million
Pregnant ladies and serial killers where no match for Captain Jack Sparrow. He took them down with one graceful swoop of his sword this weekend. That's right, for the 2nd week in a row, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End came out on top. Johnny and his gang grabbed a bucket full of booty, which, when all calculations are sorted out, should total about $43 million dollars. That brings its overall total earnings to about $216 million.
Sliding into a respectable second place was the new Judd Apatow comedy Knocked Up. For an R-rated laugher, it did spectacular business, bringing in $29 million. Not to bad for a movie about accidental pregnancies. Some are calling it the funniest film of the summer. Apatow's first major outing, The 40 Year Old Virgin bowed with a $21 million take. So, Apatow and company are up with $7 million worth of new ticket buyers.
This week's second major release didn't fair so well. Kevin Costner's brilliant serial killer flick Mr. Brooks only managed to squeeze out $10 million in ticket sales. All said, it was kind of a tough sell. Maybe word-of-mouth can see it carried into the coming weeks.
A couple of independent films made a splash in the top ten this week. Waitress is still holding strong at number six with $2 million. Bug held on at number eight with $1.2 million. And newcomer Gracie, while only playing in a select number of theaters, debuted in the number seven spot with a well earned $1.3 million. The Shue family must be very proud.
This summer's other two major hits Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third are starting to see some fall off. Spidey dropped his wobbly web all the way down to fifth place this week, taking in a very tiny $7.5 million. Don't fret, though. Peter Parker and Company have managed to rack in an overall domestic take of $318 million to date. Shrek hasn't given up so easily. That big green ogre is still lingering up there in the third place position, trailing Knocked Up by only $3 million. The film brought in $26 million, putting its cumulative gross at about $254 million.
Captain Jack will have some tough seas to sail next week when he goes up against Danny Ocean, Cody Maverick, and some foreign business men who'd like nothing more than to snip his Achilles tendon with a pair of gardening sheers. Ocean's Thirteen, Surf's Up, and Hostel: Part II all open on Friday, June 8th.