RUSH HOUR - HALLOWEEN -- A BOX-OFFICE TREAT

The 2007 summer movie season went out with a bang over the Labor Day weekend as the box office posted $119.6 million in ticket sales -- well above the previous record of $106.1 million for the holiday set in 2003, according to box-office trackers Media by Numbers. Halloween, the top film over the four-day period, also set a record for the holiday as it raked in an estimated $31 million, nearly twice the earnings of the No. 2 film, Superbad (which had held the top spot over the previous two weekends. Balls of Fury, the ping-pong/martial arts comedy, debuted in third place with $13.8 million, slightly ahead of The Bourne Ultimatum, which took in $13.2 million, bringing its gross into blockbuster territory with $202.2 billion over five weeks. Rush Hour 3 rounded out the top five with $10.4 million in its fourth week. All other films took in less than $10 million.

The top ten films for the four-day Labor Day weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers:
1. Halloween, $31 million; 2. Superbad, $15.6 million; 3. Balls of Fury, $13.8 million; 4. Bourne Ultimatum, $13.2 million; 5. Rush Hour 3, $10.4 million; 6. Mr. Bean's Holiday, $8.1 million; 7. The Nanny Diaries, $6.4 million; 8. Death Sentence, $5.2 million; 9. War, $5.1 million; 10. Stardust, $3.9 million.

04/09/2007