”Kingdom” debuts atop weak box office
The epic battle tale “Kingdom of Heaven” fought its way to the top of the box office, taking in an estimated $20 million in its debut weekend. But it did little to boost revenues at the start of the summer movie season.
Hollywood’s box office slump continued, with revenues down for the 11th straight weekend compared with the same weekend last year, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
The top 12 movies grossed $76.9 million, down 24 percent from last year at this time, when “Van Helsing” and “Mean Girls” were the top movies.
“It was quite an underwhelming week,” Dergarabedian said. “This is theoretically the first weekend of the summer, and it doesn’t feel like one.”
Though “Kingdom of Heaven” pulled in $20 million, it paled in comparison to other recent blockbusters that opened during the first weekend of May.
“Van Helsing” opened last year with a three-day haul of $51.7 million, while “X2: X-Men United” opened in 2003 with $85.6 million. In 2002, “Spider-Man” debuted the same weekend and collected a whopping $114.8 million.
“Kingdom of Heaven,” featuring heartthrob Orlando Bloom as a warrior in Jerusalem between the Second and Third Crusades, was followed in the weekend rankings by another new release, “House of Wax.” The remake of the Vincent Price horror tale, featuring Elisha Cuthbert and Paris Hilton, brought in $12.2 million, according to studio estimates.
The weekend’s other notable new movie was “Crash,” which features Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon and rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges in intertwining stories examining racial stereotypes in Los Angeles. It finished fourth with $9.1 million.
“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” dropped to third place with nearly $9.13 million after debuting last weekend at the top spot.
Box office watchers anticipate that Hollywood’s slide will end May 19 when the final installment in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy debuts.
“Believe me, when ‘Star Wars’ comes out, people will drop everything and come to the theater,” Dergarabedian said.