Weekend Box Office (April 26 - 28, 2002)

by Sujit Chawla

THIS WEEKEND For the second straight weekend, Universal's The Scorpion King rocked the box office, taking pole position for the second (and last time) as moviegoers eagerly anticipate next weekend's blockbuster-to-be Spider-Man. The two new entries this week opened to poor numbers as both Life or Something Like It and Jason X opened with under $7M.

Starring WWF Superstar The Rock, The Scorpion King took in $18M this weekend, according to final studio figures, representing a 50% drop from last weekend. Compared to the movies it was spun off from, the 50% drop off was on par with The Mummy Returns which dropped 50% in its second weekend, and slighty more than The Mummy which lost 43% in its second frame. The Scorpion King's cume now stands at a strong $61.3M. With Spider-Man expected to run roughshod over the box office next weekend, expect The Scorpion King to continue its quick decline, but still run up a total cume of $85-95M.

Continuing its strong run, the Ben Affleck/Samuel L. Jackson thriller Changing Lanes landed in second place with $9M. The Paramount release fell only 19% from last weekend, and its total now stands at $44.6M

Debuting in third place was New Line's Jason X which scared up $6.6M this weekend from 1,878 theaters for a per screen average of $3,540. The tenth installment of the Friday the 13th series looks as if it'll end its run on par with the last couple of films in the series. A sampling of final grosses include $15.9M for the last Jason film, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday which opened in 1993, $14.3 for 1989's Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, $32.6 for 1984's Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and the highest grossing film in the series the original Friday the 13th which made $39.8M back in 1980.

Dropping a decent 32% this weekend and landing in fourth was Sandra Bullock's Murder by Numbers. Picking up an additional $6.4M its total now stands at $18.4M.

Landing in fifth place this weekend was the Angelina Jolie starrer, Life or Something Like It. Scrounging up $6.2M from 2,604 venues, its per screen average was a dismal $2,388. Although last summer's Tomb Raider opened huge with $47.7M, audiences have not clicked with Jolie's last couple of films, as Life or Something Like It opened very close to Original Sin which opened last August with $6.4M and ended its run with $16.5M. Expect Life or Something Like It to follow a similar path and quickly find itself on the rental shelves.

In sixth place, and having the lowest percent decline in the top ten was the baseball feelgood film, The Rookie. Sliding only 13%, the Disney entry picked up $5.6M and has amassed a very good $60.8M so far.

In seventh place this weekend is the highest grossing film of the year (for a couple of more weeks at least), Ice Age, which picked up another $5M. Dropping only 15% from last weekend, Ice Age's total now stands at a towering $165.8M, good enough for 74th place on the all-time top 100, sandwiched in between last year's Hannibal and 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Among the films rounding out the top ten were two films from Sony, Panic Room which landed in eighth place picking up $4.2M and The Sweetest Thing which fell to tenth place dancing its way to $2.9M. Totals stand at $87.7M and $21.3M respectively. And in between those two films at number nine was the Fox release High Crimes which took in $3.1M, bringing its cume to $35.1M.

Compared to predictions, both Life or Something Like It and Jason X came in just below the Guru's projections of $8M and $7M respectively.

The top ten films grossed $67.1M which was up 33% from last year when Driven debuted at number one with $12.2M; and up 5% from 2000 when U-571 remained in the top slot, also with $12.2M.

For reviews of The Scorpion King and Jason X visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Deuce's Wild, Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending and a little film called Spider-Man swing into theaters.

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# Title Apr 26 - 28 Apr 19 - 21 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 The Scorpion King $ 18,038,270 $ 36,075,875 -50.0 3,449 2 $ 5,230 $ 61,313,785 Universal
2 Changing Lanes 9,008,285 11,068,372 -18.6 2,642 3 3,410 44,574,642 Paramount
3 Jason X 6,649,006 1,878 1 3,540 6,649,006 New Line
4 Murder By Numbers 6,362,457 9,307,394 -31.6 2,663 2 2,389 18,362,833 Warner Bros.
5 Life or Something Like It 6,219,234 2,604 1 2,388 6,219,234 Fox
6 The Rookie 5,607,222 6,451,593 -13.1 2,543 5 2,205 60,767,811 Buena Vista
7 Ice Age 5,020,786 5,903,510 -15.0 2,594 7 1,936 165,830,108 Fox
8 Panic Room 4,210,107 6,004,655 -29.9 2,463 5 1,709 87,736,590 Sony
9 High Crimes 3,111,550 3,922,243 -20.7 2,054 4 1,515 35,093,925 Fox
10 The Sweetest Thing 2,904,173 5,105,706 -43.1 2,124 3 1,367 21,280,807 Sony
11 Clockstoppers 2,238,603 2,826,455 -20.8 1,847 5 1,212 34,492,263 Paramount
12 National Lampoon's Van Wilder 1,518,223 2,159,909 -29.7 1,352 4 1,123 19,613,150 Artisan
13 Blade II 1,441,392 2,085,961 -30.9 1,208 6 1,193 79,446,282 New Line
14 Frailty 1,350,305 2,165,374 -37.6 1,059 3 1,275 10,190,394 Lions Gate
15 Y Tu Mama Tambien 1,001,255 1,000,261 0.1 282 7 3,551 7,244,423 IFC Films
16 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 804,683 597,362 34.7 141 2 5,707 1,626,751 IFC Films
17 The Lord of the Rings 797,997 771,711 3.4 529 19 1,509 308,078,986 New Line
18 Monsoon Wedding 724,658 732,688 -1.1 239 10 3,032 8,128,796 USA Films
19 A Beautiful Mind 676,095 854,170 -20.8 626 19 1,080 169,348,761 Universal
20 Monster's Ball 595,201 793,121 -25.0 414 18 1,438 29,275,075 Lions Gate
Top 5 $ 46,277,252 $ 68,907,889 -32.8
Top 10 67,131,090 88,831,177 -24.4
Top 20 78,279,502 99,457,281 -21.3
Top 20 vs. 2001 78,279,502 62,098,052 26.1

Last Updated : April 29, 2002 at 8:30PM EDT