'The Dark Knight'
Universal's "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" fell just short of stealing the box office crown from juggernaut "The Dark Knight," which dropped only 42% in its third weekend to come within shouting distance of the $400 million mark in domestic ticket sales.
"Dragon Emperor," which returns the "Mummy" franchise to the bigscreen after a seven-year absence, opened to an estimated $42.5 million domestically from 3,759 screens, while Warner Bros.' "Dark Knight" grossed an estimated $43.8 million from 4,266. Cume is now $394.9 million.
Overseas, the Rob Cohen-directed "Dragon Emperor" displayed far more firepower, grossing an estimated $59.5 million from 28 territories and easily beating "Dark Knight" for the No. 1 spot at the international box office. The "Mummy" three-quel returns Brendan Fraser in the title role and stars franchise newcomer Jet Li.
Privately, U and most box office observers had expected "Dragon Emperor" to beat "Dark Knight" at the domestic box office, but the Batman sequel's resilience and muscle continued to surprise.
Kevin Costner political comedy "Swing Vote," the weekend's other new wide player, didn't see much action. The Disney pickup grossed an estimated $6.3 million from 2,213 theaters to place No. 6 for the weekend.
Overall, the domestic box office was down by as much as 12% over the same frame last year, when Universal's "The Bourne Ultimatum" bowed to $69.3 million. Yet summer 2008 is still running slightly ahead of last year's record-breaking summer, in part because a wider range of films is seeing strong business.
Among holdovers, Sony's R-rated comedy "Step Brothers" came in No. 3 for the weekend behind "Dark Knight" and "Dragon Emperor." Toplining Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, "Step Brothers" held well in its second sesh, declining 47% to $16.3 million from 3,094 screens for a hearty cume of $63 million in its first 10 days.
Universal's "Mamma Mia!" had plenty of reason to dance, declining only 26% in its third weekend to an estimated $13.1 million from 3,060 screens, good enough for No. 4. Cume is $88 million; the Meryl Streep-Amanda Seyfried musical will likely gross upward of $125 million domestically.
New Line and Walden Media's 3-D action-adventure "Journey to the Center of the Earth" remained high on the box office chart, underscoring the value of being able to charge more for 3-D movies. The family pic, also starring Fraser, declined a slim 29% to an estimated $6.9 million from 2,285 theaters. Cume is $73.1 million in its fourth week.
Disney-Pixar's "Wall-E" crossed the $200 million mark over the weekend, declining 26% to an estimated $4.7 million from 2,555 for a cume of $204.2 million in its sixth frame.
One trouble spot was 20th Century Fox's "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," which wasn't able to recover from a weak opening the weekend before. Directed by Chris Carter, pic fell off a steep 66% to an estimated $3.4 million from 3,185 for a cume of $17 million in its first 10 days. Pic was No. 9 for the weekend.
Fox says the film will be profitable for the studio, as it cost less than $30 million to produce.
The big-budget "Dragon Emperor" cost at least $145 million to produce.
Domestically, the "Dragon Emperor" opening came in slightly behind that of the original "The Mummy" ($43.4 million) and well behind that of "The Mummy Returns" ($68.1 million). Internationally, however, "Dragon Emperor" bowed bigger than the previous two pics combined.
"The decision to add another installment to this global franchise paid off in spades," said Universal prexy of distribution Nikki Rocco, adding that the domestic opening number was impressive considering all the attention "Dark Knight" continues to attract.
The addition of Li to the cast likely upped the interest among both domestic and international auds. "Dragon Emperor" diverges from the first two installments in setting the action in China, and not Egypt. And Maria Bello replaces Rachel Weisz in the lead female role, while Luke Ford also joins the cast.
In North America, "Dragon Emperor" appealed largely to fans of the franchise, with 94% of the audience having seen "The Mummy" and 93% having seen "The Mummy Returns." The aud also skewed older, with 56% over age 25. Males made up 52% of the audience.
A failure to attract new fans could be why the film came in on the lower end of expectations.
A big reason for the runaway success of "Dark Knight" is that the film is appealing to a broad audience, not just Batman diehards.
"It's a movie that has overperformed at every turn. To have a 42% drop in the third weekend is a tremendous hold," said Warners exec VP of distribution Jeff Goldstein. "Everyone is going — everyone."
On Saturday, "Dark Knight" saw an increase of 35% over Friday's gross, fueling its boffo weekend biz. "Dragon Emperor" saw a 5% dip.
"Dark Knight," co-produced and co-financed by Legendary Pictures, should cross the $400 million boundary today or Tuesday, and in record time. It took current record-holder "Shrek 2" 43 days to reach $400 million.
Most now believe the Batman sequel's gross will hit near $500 million domestically. That would make it the second highest grossing film of all time after "Titanic," which cumed $600.8 million in North America.
If there was any bright news for "Swing Vote," it was that it seemed to please older adults looking for counterprogramming. Film was financed by Costner before Disney picked it up.
A full 65% of the audience was over age 35. That's the sort of demo breakdown that specialty, adult-skewing fare sees. "Swing Vote" skewed slightly female, or 54%.
"It is a very intelligent movie that the intelligent, adult moviegoer can latch onto," said Disney prexy of distribution Chuck Viane.
"Swing Vote," also starring Kelsey Grammer, Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane, revolves around a man whose vote will decide the U.S. presidential race.
On the specialty side, Sony Pictures Classics' "Frozen River" grossed an estimated $73,322 as it opened in seven theaters in Los Angeles and Gotham for a per location average of $10,745.
Lionsgate's horror-thriller "Midnight Meat Train" went nowhere in its debut, grossing $32,000 from 102 theaters for a per-location average of $314.
Disney-owned Miramax saw another weekend of strong numbers for "Brideshead Revisited," which grossed an estimated $1.2 million as it expanded by 156 runs to 189 theaters for a per location average of $6,250 and a cume of $1.7 million in its second frame. Pic came in No. 13 overall at the B.O.
Also in its second weekend, Paramount Vantage's docu "American Teen" grossed an estimated $175,461 for a per location average of $4,499 and a cume of $250,549 as it expanded to 39 theaters.
French thriller "Tell No One" grossed an estimated $314,637 from 88 theaters in its fifth weekend for a per screen average of $5,284 and a cume of $2.3 million. Pic came in No. 17.
Contact Pamela McClintock at
pamela.mcclintock@variety.com