'Spy Kids 3D' Tops North
American Box Office
By Gina
Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Spy
Kids 3D: Game Over" beat "Lara Croft Tomb Raiders:
The Cradle of Life" in a weekend box office derby that
pitted the two sequels against each other and the potentially
Oscar-bound "Seabiscuit."
According to studio estimates released
on Sunday, "Spy Kids," the final case of the
sleuthing Cortez family, raked in $32.5 million in North
American ticket sales in the three days beginning July 25.
The three-film franchise has generated $230.8
million since 2001 for Dimension Films, a division of
Miramax Films. In the latest saga, the two Cortez
kids travel inside a 3-D video game to capture a world-destroying
villain played by Sylvester Stallone.
Miramax co-chairman Bob Weinstein
credited the new sequel's strong finish in a summer movie season
that has been rough on sequels to goodwill earned by the first
two films.
"When you get the franchise right and
(audiences) have such an enjoyable experience, you build a brand
name," Weinstein told Reuters. "The
3-D was something fresh. Parents hadn't seen that in a long
time and wanted to turn their kids on to it."
Walt Disney Co.'s . "Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," a swashbuckling
adventure starring Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom,
hung onto the No. 2 slot with $22.4 million. Last weekend's
winner, "Bad Boys II," Martin Lawrence's action-packed
buddy comedy, fell to third with $22 million in its second weekend
in release by Sony Pictures.
Paramount Pictures' "Lara Croft Tomb
Raider" opened in fourth place with $21.7 million,
well below the $47 million debut of the 2001 film that introduced
moviegoers to the voluptuous British archeologist made
popular in video games.
Wayne Lewellen, Paramount's
president of distribution, said stiff box office competition
and weaker sales of the new Lara Croft video game may
have eroded the film's core fan base.
"We didn't anticipate that the competition
level would be quite where it's at." Lewellen said.
"This is the first time ever that we've had five movies
gross over $20 million on a three-day weekend."
Fifth-place finisher, "Seabiscuit,"
took in $21.5 million in the most limited release of the weekend's
top 10 films, fewer than 2,000 theaters.
The film's distributors at Universal Pictures
hope to sustain demand for the true story of a 1930s-era misfit
racehorse and the men who made him a champion in theaters through
fall to heighten its chances of winning Oscar gold.
A Universal spokesman said exit polling
showed "Seabiscuit" was on track to enjoy strong
word of mouth recommendation.
Over the weekend, moviegoers shelled out $145.6
million on the top-grossing 12 films, a nearly 10 percent increase
over last year's box office totals, according to Exhibitor
Relations Co. of Encino, California.
Sony Pictures is a unit of Sony
Corp and Miramax is a unit of Walt Disney Co.
Universal Pictures is a unit of Vivendi Universal SA
Paramount Pictures is a unit of
Viacom Inc.
- Craig Zablo
