Rush Hour 3, the latest installment of the franchise started
in 1998, has won the first place in the North American box-office charts over
the weekend.
According to an estimation released on Sunday by the studio New
Line Cinema the movie had three-day ticket sales of 50.3 million dollars.
Rush Hour 3 is faithful to its formula, but this time Jackie
Chan and Chris Tucker, respectively Chief Inspector Lee and Detective James
Carter, are in France,
tracing an international Chinese mob boss. The action is still breath-taking
and dynamic, as usual: assassination attempts, a kidnap, car chases, shootings
in a night club, a fight on the Eiffel
Tower
and so forth.
Rush Hour 3 bumped the espionage action sequel The Bourne
Ultimatum starring Matt Damon into second place. After debuting last weekend in
first place, the third instalment of screen adaptations from novelist Robert
Ludlum grossed 33.7 million dollars from Friday- Sunday.
But “Rush Hour 3” did
not so good compared to the previous installment “Rush Hour 2”, released six
years ago. In the opening week end in 2001, “Rush Hour 2” took in $67.4 million
"The Simpsons Movie", the adventures of America’s
most dysfunctional family, slipped to the third place, with revenue of 11.1
million dollars in its third week-end in cinemas.
“Stardust”, the romantic fantasy movie based on Neil
Gaiman’s fantasy novel and directed Matthew Vaughn, despite its impressive cast
(Michelle Pfeifer, Robert de Niro, Charlie Cox, Peter O’Toole, Claire Danes and
Sienna Miller) has debuted on the fourth place, with 9 million dollars in
revenue.
“Hairspray”, the film adaptation of the famous Broadway
musical, with John Travolta dancing in high heels, collected $6.4 million in
its sixth week. “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” brought in $5.9 million. In
the eighth place was “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” with $5.4 mill followed by Catherine
Zeta-Jones’ romantic comedy ”No Reservations” at $3.9 million.
The week-end’s other new release, “Daddy Day Camp”, a sequel
to “Daddy Day Care” starring Cuba Gooding Jr., ranked 10th with $3.3 million.
1. "Rush Hour 3," 50.3 million.
2. "The Bourne Ultimatum," $33.7 million.
3. "The Simpsons Movie," $11.1 million.
4. "Stardust," $9 million.
5. "Underdog," $6.5 million.
6. "Hairspray," $6.4 million.
7. "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," $5.9
million.
8. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," $5.4 million.
9. "No Reservations," $3.9 million.
10. "Daddy Day Camp," which opened Wednesday, $3.3
million.