Box Office Report: End of the Three-quel edition

Dude here again. The air conditioner in my apartment is busted. It's very hot. Disgustingly hot. Hot like a curry. Hot like that girl you always admire from afar but have no confidence to actually talk to. That's how hot it is in my apartment. It's so hot, it's cooler to step outside and stand directly in the sun. Of course, if I step outside, I miss the Nathan Fillion marathon that Cinemax has graciously displayed before me. (Serenity followed directly by Slither!)

This weekend, our "summer of three-quels" comes to an end. Unless you're waiting for Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and consider it summer, although technically it opens on the first day of fall. So let's just enjoy and look back on the summer of retreads, of broken box office records, and of lowered expectations. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates, the actuals will be available on Monday. Just to prove me wrong).

1. Rush Hour 3 (NL) - $50.2, 3778 screens, week 1, $50.2 total

2. The Bourne Ultimatum (Uni) - $33.67, 3686 screens, week 2, $132.3 total

3. The Simpsons Movie (Fox) - $11.1, 3552 screens, week 3, $152.2 total

4. Stardust (Par) - $9.0, 2540 screens, week 1, $9.0 total

5. Underdog (BV)- $6.45, 3013 screens, week 2, $24.7 total

6. Hairspray (NL) - $6.37, 2805 screens, week 4, $92.1 total

7. I Now... Chuck and Larry (Uni) - $5.9, 2799 screens, week 4, $103.8 total

8. Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix (WB) - $5.38, 2585 screens, week 5, $272.0 total

9. No Reservations (WB) - $3.9, 2053 screens, week 3, $32.09 total

10. Daddy Day Camp (Sony) - $3.55, 2332 screens, week 1, $5.0 total (Wed. open)

Ok, those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, Rush Hour 3 failed to perform as well as Rush Hour 2, as it received some pretty terrible reviews, but audiences didn't seem to care. Perhaps this time around, Chris Tucker finally understood the words coming out of Jackie Chan's mouth. Otherwise, we'll have Rush Hour 4 to look forward to in another 7 years, during which Chris Tucker will not make any other movies at all.

It's interesting to note that most of the big "Three-quels" this summer were directed by the original directors. Rather rare in this day and age. (Shrek and Bourne are the exceptions, but Bourne carried on with the director of the second one). Just some food for thought.

Stardust opened up and didn't perform all that well, which is a shame. It was marred by a horrible trailer that gives no inclination as to what a fun film it truly is. But the glut of fantasy films based on books not a lot of people have heard is beginning, and is evident in the previews before the fantasy films that are out now. Far too many, and they're all starting to look the same.

Far too much bile has been spewed at Daddy Day Camp, so I'm just gonna leave it alone. Instead, I'll point out that Transformers became the fourth film to cross $300 million dollars this summer. Because that's happy news to those that made Transformers.

Below the radar, After Dark Films released Skinwalkers on 737 screens and took in $565,000. And a movie Rocket Science opened up on 6 screens and took in $56,900. I bring it up because it was shot in New Jersey, and New Jersey is the greatest place on Earth. Try to deny it.

And in the "Because It's There" series: Sunshine took in $181,000 on 116 screens, bringing it's grand total to $3,167,000 in 4 weeks.

There you have my break down. Next week, prepare thyself for McLovin. It sounds like a sexy hamburger.

Until next weekend...