DISNEY - SUPERHEROES SHOW BOX OFFICE STRENGTH

The superhero take-over of the box office continued apace over the weekend as Universal's Hellboy II: The Golden Army took over first place with $34.54 million, edging out last week's superhero flick Hancock , which took in $32.08 million. (Another superhero, Batman, is expected to take over next weekend.) In third place was Warner Bros.' Journey to the Center of the Earth , which earned $21.01 million. In fact, Journey , which was designed to be shown in digital 3-D, far surpassed the two leaders in ticket sales at the 954 theaters which were able to show it in that format. The 3-D theaters averaged $12,559 in receipts, while Hellboy II averaged $10,780 and Hancock , $8,091. In its third week, Disney's WALL-E added another $18.79 million to its gross, bringing its total to $163.06 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Universal, $34,539,115, (New); 2. Hancock, Sony/Columbia, $32,080,560, 2 Wks. ($164,115,004); 3. Journey to the Center of the Earth, Warner Bros., $21,018,141, (New); 4. WALL-E, Disney, $18,793,588, 3 Wks. ($163,055,900); 5. Wanted, Universal, $11,996,175, 3 Wks. ($112,455,060); 6. Get Smart , Warner Bros., $7,201,376, 4 Wks. ($111,564,176); 7. Meet Dave, Fox, $5,251,918, (New); 8. Kung Fu Panda , Paramount, $4,411,412, 6 Wks. ($202,154,311); 9. The Incredible Hulk, Universal, $2,324,345, 5 Wks. ($129,905,435); 10. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, Picturehouse, $2,303,054, 4 Wks. ($10,992,641).

15/07/2008