Box Office: Bring It On Is Return Champ
September 4 -- Cheers and fears may run rampant in the current slate of top 10 movies, but perhaps the scariest box-office news is that there's nothing for film companies to shout about.
This summer is a weak one, with no Sixth Sense or Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace to drive ticket sales. For the sixth weekend in a row, box-office sales slumped by 16 percent compared to the same period last year.
Box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. reported that between the Memorial Day and Labor Day holiday weekends, moviegoers have shelled out approximately $2.75 billion on tickets. That's a figure second only to last year's record-breaking summer box-office numbers. But rising ticket prices could mean that there are actually fewer bodies in theaters, Exhibitor Relations President Paul Dergarabedian told the Associated Press.
Cheer to StayA bright spot in the charts is the teen cheerleader comedy Bring It On, which cartwheeled into the No. 1 slot for its second consecutive weekend. The Kirsten Dunst rally vehicle made $14.5 million in the four-day holiday period, according to box-office estimates issued Monday.
Bring It On's total was down 35 percent from last weekend, but no matter — with lukewarm turns from two new releases (Whipped and Highlander: Endgame), it easily conquered the competition.
Immortal Life, Mortal DrawThe fourth film in the Highlander franchise managed to debut at No. 5 with a decent four-day haul of $6.4 million. Christopher Lambert recapped his role as a sword-fighting immortal in the cult series, keeping Highlander: Endgame on par with the performance of its predecessors. Highlander III summoned $5.6 million during its opening weekend in 1995.
The universally panned Whipped was just that, failing to crack the Top 10 with a limp $2.7 million estimated gross for the Friday-to-Monday period. Amanda Peet, who received her first lead billing in the new sex comedy, proved that she still needs a solid ensemble cast to draw crowds. Her last movie, The Whole Nine Yards, received $13.7 million when it bowed in February — with name actor Bruce Willis and Friends sourpuss Matthew Perry at the center of the film's marketing campaign.
