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Cast member Christopher Mintz-Plasse
poses at the premiere of "Superbad" at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in
Hollywood, California Aug. 13, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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LOS
ANGELES, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Sony Pictures' coming-of-age comedy "Superbad"
continued to be the box office leader in North America this weekend, taking in
an estimated 1800 million dollars in ticket sales over the three-day period,
according to preliminary figures released Sunday.
But the big news for Hollywood over the weekend was
that the overall box office take this summer since the record-breaking debut of
Sony's "Spider-Man 3" in early May has reached above 4 billion dollars.
The figure surpassed the previous summer record of
3.95 billion dollars set in 2004, according to Los Angeles-based box office
tracking firm Media By Numbers.
Not only was more money taken in this year, but more
people satin theaters as well, with this year's attendance figure to date of
over 580 million up 5.4 percent from last year. Attendance was dropping at a
rate of 13 percent per year two years ago.
As Hollywood's summer season approaches to an end and
students prepare for a new school year, moviegoers mostly turned a cold shoulder
to a slew of new releases this weekend, helping the low-budget "Superbad" about
two high school buddies retain the top spot for a second week.
Universal Pictures' espionage-action film "The Bourne
Ultimatum," although it was in its fourth weekend in release, climbed one spot
to No. 2 with an estimated 12.4 million dollars, while Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour
3," came in third with 12.3 million dollars after three weeks in theaters.
Family-oriented comedy "Mr. Bean's Holiday," starring
popular British comedian Rowan Atkinson, and Chinese martial arts star Jet Li's
action "War" were the only two new releases that rounded out the top five, with
grosses of 10.1 and 10 million dollars respectively.
The top-selling 12 films in U.S. and Canadian
theaters this weekend took in 90.2 million dollar collectively, up 7 percent
from the same weekend a year ago. Industry analysts expect that Hollywood will
have taken in a total of about 4.15 billion dollars this summer when the season
ends on Labor Day early next month.
Sony comedy "Superbad" tops box office
in N America
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Cast member Emma Stone (R) greets
actress Kat Dennings at the premiere of "Superbad" at the Grauman's
Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California Aug. 13, 2007. The movie opens in
the U.S. on Aug. 17.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Sony Pictures'
coming-of-age comedy "Superbad" did a super job at box office in North America
this weekend, earning an estimated 31.2 million dollars in ticket sales and more
than earning back its 20-million-dollar production cost.
The movie about three high school geeks trying to
score points by buying liquor doubled the box office earnings of another comedy
released the same week last year: "Snakes On A Plane" earned just 15.2 million
dollar in its debut weekend the third week of August 2006.
Sony officials said Sunday that "Superbad" also broke
the 12-year-old record for a movie opening in late August. The film displaced
"Mortal Kombat," which opened on Aug. 18, 1995, and grossed 23 million dollars
in its first weekend, as the top money-making film to debut after August
15. Full story
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Cast members Michael Cera (L) and Jonah
Hill pose at the premiere of "Superbad" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre
in Hollywood, California Aug. 13, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
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