Auds caught up in 'Sin'
Dimension's stylized pic tops 'Shop' with $28 mil
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Bow reps the second best start in helmer Robert Rodriguez's career, behind his 2003 kidpic "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," which bowed with $33.4 million.
MGM's "Beauty Shop" has racked up $17.3 million in biz since its Wednesday debut at 2,659 locations, with $13.5 million coming over the weekend.
Behind the week's new pics was the previous box office champ, Sony's "Guess Who," which dipped a modest 37% in its second week to $13 million.
Fox's "Robots" crossed the $100 million mark in its fourth frame. Its $10 million, three-day total, down just 23% since last week, brought cume to $104.6 million.
In fifth was Warner Bros.' "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous" with $8.4 million, off 40% from its opening.
New Line successfully expanded "The Upside of Anger" to 1,111 venues, where it grossed $4.1 million over the weekend. That moved the Kevin Costner-Joan Allen starrer to the No. 8 spot.
While the "Sin" bow came in on the low end of industry estimates, it compares favorably with the debut of other pulp-based pics, including that of "Constantine" ($29.8 million) earlier this year. "Sin" opened bigger than last spring's "Hellboy" ($23.2 million) and "Kill Bill Vol. 2" ($25.1 million).
Like "Constantine" and "Kill Bill," "Sin" was likely hampered by an R rating that kept out some teen fans.
Dimension marketing topper Josh Greenstein said the distrib was happy with the opening and added, "The movie has a lot of potential to grow." Aud demographics were not available on Sunday, he said.
'Shop' talk
MGM distrib prexy Erik Lomis said that while the "Beauty Shop" demos skewed heavily to women (68%), he said the pic played to the men who showed up.
Exit surveys showed the aud was 67% African American, and 54% of the aud was between 25 and 35.
Fox distrib exec VP Rick Myerson noted that the "Robots" grosses include around 500 sneaks for "Fever Pitch," the Jimmy Fallon-Drew Barrymore romantic comedy opening Friday. He credited the good sneaks turnout for part of the frame's steady "Robots" results.
Overall, box office continued to lose ground to last year's results. Nielsen EDI estimates total biz at $104 million, 18% lower than the 2004 comparison frame. Year to date, box office stands at $2.02 billion, 2% below last year's mark.
This week marks the sixth straight in which 2005 has been down vs. 2004, with the difference due largely to "The Passion's" blockbuster run over the period last year.
'Look' looking good
In the limited arena, Sony Pictures Classics saw strong results for "Look at Me," which bowed with $74,943 from six screens, an average of $12,491.
Also opening was IFC's "Dust to Glory," which fetched $16,937 on two screens.
Thinkfilm's "Kontroll" debuted with $11,050 off two screens. And its wine doc "Mondovino" held well in its second week, taking in $13,219 from three screens, an average of $4,406. Cume stands at $32,284.
Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda," distribbed by Fox Searchlight, expanded to 197 screens, up 102 from last week, and took in $550,000, an average of $2,792. That brought cume to $1.76 million. "Melinda" will expand to 300 playdates next week.
Searchlight's other current release, Danny Boyle's "Millions," stayed strong in its fourth week, with $450,000 from 128 screens, an average of 3,516.
Newmarket's "Downfall" took in $655,206 in its seventh week, bringing cume to $3.18 million. German-lingo pic played 168 screens, averaging $3,900.
From Samuel Goldwyn and Roadside Attractions, "Walk on Water," in its fifth week, grossed $148,000 off 40 screens, for an average of $3,700. Results push cume to $707,162.
IFC's "The Ballad of Jack and Rose," in its second week, grossed $128,750 and pushed cume to $210,771. Playing at 48 venues, it averaged $2,682.
Miramax's "Dear Frankie," in its fifth week, picked up $63,888 at its 26 playdates, averaging $2,457 and upping cume to $429,428. Distrib's "Best of Youth" grossed $7,443 on two screens, lifting cume to $93,341.
