The summer movie season ended with yet another triumph for
film industry parody “Tropic Thunder,” which earned an estimated $11.5 million
Friday through Sunday and claimed the first spot at the North American box
office for the third week in a row, Hollywood studios reported yesterday.
The Paramount Pictures production, starring Ben Stiller,
Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black, collected a total of $83.8 million in three
weeks, after putting an end to “The Dark Knight’s” prolonged reign at the box
office.
In spite of the fact that five fresh films hoped to lure
moviegoers into domestic theaters, none of them could actually surpass the $10
million mark.
“It was an underwhelming end to a phenomenal summer,” said
Paul Dergarabedian, head of box office tracking service Media By Numbers,
according to Reuters.
Ben Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder” faced real competition only from
the sci-fi thriller “Babylon A.D.” distributed by 20th Century Fox
and starring Vin Diesel, which brought in an estimated $9.7 million in its
opening weekend and landed on the second spot.
Blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” starring Christian Bale and
the late Heath Ledger, climbed up one spot to No. 3, earning $8.8 million and bringing
its cumulative domestic haul to an estimated $502.4 million, 45 days after its
magnificent debut.
Two weeks ago, the movie directed by Christopher Nolan
managed to outshine “Star Wars” and became the production with the highest
revenue ever, following only “Titanic,” with $601 million.
Columbia Pictures’ “The House Bunny” grossed $8.3 million
and claimed the fourth position, while “Traitor,” starring Don Cheadle, collected
$7.9 million and came in fifth.
According to box office tracker Media By Numbers, the total
summer profits for the movie business would be around $4.2 billion, slightly
better than last year’s $4.18 billion.
However, taking into account the fact that the number of
tickets sold this summer is down 3 percent compared to last year’s, the gain in
revenues is mostly influenced by higher ticket prices.
