1. The Dark Knight: $42.6 million
2. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: $40.5 million
3. Step Brothers: $16.5 million
4. Mamma Mia!: $12.6 million
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth: $6.6 million
We've got two new releases this week, both of which are arriving in theaters today in hopes of building buzz for the coming weekend (and to avoid the start of the Olympics). Also, neither of them is directly targeting the same audience as The Dark Knight, which, even in its fourth week of release, is still the one to beat.
Pineapple ExpressWhat's It All About: A stoner (Seth Rogen) and his dealer (James Franco) find themselves on the run after seeing a cop commit murder. Rogen wrote the script with Evan Goldberg, and this is the writing team behind Superbad.
Why It Might Do Well: Judd Apatow isn't directing, but he's on board as producer and he's got a story credit, so hopefully his magic touch will be in evidence. Also, most theaters provide comfortable seating with easy access to snacks, so the stoner crowd should feel right at home.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The aforementioned stoners might be saving their money for the recently announced Cheech and Chong reunion.
Number of Theaters: 3,072
Prediction: $24 million
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2What's It All About: This sequel to the 2005 original is based on the novel Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood, with the four stars returning to once again share ownership of a special pair of blue jeans.
Why It Might Do Well: While not breaking any records, the first Pants took in $42 million worldwide, which is nothing to sneeze at. Also, fans of America Ferrera's hit series Ugly Betty will probably bolster the numbers.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Can a summer movie actually exist without a single explosion? Time will tell.
Number of Theaters: 2,667
Prediction: $15 million
I have a feeling there's still enough crime in the street's of Gotham City to keep The Dark Knight at #1 for a fourth week. It's been breaking records left and right, so I don't think it's too big a leap. Here's my top five:
1. The Dark Knight
2. Pineapple Express
3. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
4. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
5. Step Brothers
There was no box office competition last week, but here are the results from two weeks ago. Kudos to Vera for a perfect score:
1. Vera: 16
2. rlrse: 13
2. Smiggy: 13
2. Shawn: 13
3. victor de la torre: 12
3. Gregory Rubinstein: 12
3. tim: 12
3. Max: 12
3. cough: 12
4. Monika: 10
4. lostinafog: 10
5. Alex Focker: 9
5. odiin: 9
5. filmsuki: 9
5. Brent Todd: 9
5. Bradford Oman: 9
5. VP: 9
5. Ray: 9
5. greatone: 9
5. Chris: 9
5. airtoast: 9
5. vega: 9
5. ac: 9
6. I Eat Robots: 7
6. zack: 7
6. DarkAgair: 7
So what do you think? Got a better prediction than mine? Let's here it! Post your predictions for the top five movies in the comments section below before 5:00PM Eastern Time on Friday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.
1. 1- Pineapple Express (crossin fingers)
2- The Dark Knight
3- The Mummy 3
4- Sisterhood of the traveling pants 2
5- Mamma Mia!
Posted at 5:40PM on Aug 6th 2008 by Alex Farquharson