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Lopez, Fonda A
'Monster' Pairing At U.S. Box Office  |
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Two new comedies
pairing veteran
actors with
younger stars
dominated the
weekend box
office in North
America, with
the Jennifer
Lopez- Jane
Fonda vehicle
"Monster-in-Law"
taking top
honors,
according to
studio estimates
issued on
Sunday.
"Monster-in-Law,"
Fonda's first
film since
1990's "Stanley
& Iris," sold
about $24
million worth of
tickets since
opening May 13.
It was followed
by the Will
Ferrell- Robert
Duvall soccer
comedy, "Kicking
& Screaming,"
which scored a
three-day
estimate of
$20.9 million.
Both films
outperformed the
expectations of
their respective
studios, New
Line Cinema and
Universal
Pictures, but
they were unable
to prevent the
overall box
office from
suffering its
12th consecutive
"down" weekend
when compared
with the
year-ago period.
Sales so far
this year are
down 6 percent
from last year,
and attendance
is off 9
percent,
according to box
office tracking
firm Exhibitor
Relations.
Hollywood hopes
the force will
be with it next
Thursday when
George Lucas'
long-awaited
"Star Wars:
Episode III --
Revenge of the
Sith" kicks off
the Memorial Day
holiday weekend.
This weekend's
top 10 contained
two other new
releases, the
martial arts
thriller
"Unleashed,"
starring Chinese
action hero Jet
Li, at No. 3
with $10.6
million; and the
psychological
thriller "Mindhunters,"
starring Val
Kilmer and LL
Cool J, at No.
10 with $2
million.
Last weekend's
champ, "Kingdom
of Heaven,"
starring Orlando
Bloom as a
humble French
blacksmith who
takes on the
Arabs during the
12th century,
fell to No. 4
with $9.6
million. The
ensemble urban
drama "Crash"
rounded out the
top five with
$7.2 million.
Their respective
totals stand at
$35.1 million
and $19.8
million.
The top 12 films
earned $95.5
million this
weekend, said
Exhibitor
Relations, down
6.7 percent from
the year-ago
period when
"Troy" opened at
No. 1 with $46.9
million.
"Monster-in-Law,"
directed by
Australian
Robert Luketic
("Legally
Blonde"), stars
Fonda as a
domineering
mother out to
sabotage the
promising
relationship
between the
characters
played by Lopez
and Michael
Vartan of the TV
spy show
"Alias." The
reviews were
generally
unkind, but that
didn't stop
women over 25
from showing up
for the comedic
antics.
New Line, a unit
of Time Warner
Inc., said the
movie was
budgeted in the
low- to mid-$40
million range.
In "Kicking &
Screaming,"
Ferrell plays
the hapless
coach of a
soccer team,
which must face
off against a
team coached by
his
over-achieving
father, played
by Duvall. It
was directed by
Jesse Dylan, one
of singer Bob
Dylan's sons.
The budget was
in the mid-$40
million area,
said Universal,
a unit of NBC
Universal, which
is majority
owned by General
Electric Co .
"Unleashed,"
released by the
Rogue Pictures
genre arm of NBC
Universal's
Focus Features
unit, played
primarily to the
hard-core action
crowd dominated
by minorities,
the studio said.
"Kingdom of
Heaven" was
released by 20th
Century Fox, a
unit of News
Corp . "Crash"
was released by
Lions Gate
Films, a unit of
Lions Gate
Entertainment
Corp . "Mindhunters"
was released by
Dimension Films,
a unit of Walt
Disney Co .
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