TERMINATOR - MEMORIAL DAY NOT MEMORABLE AT BOX OFFICE

MEMORIAL DAY NOT MEMORABLE AT BOX OFFICE

Despite a glut of $100-million+ movies filling movie houses over the Memorial Day weekend, the base of ticket-buying customers did not expand to accommodate them. The number of tickets sold was substantially the same as it was for the comparable week a year ago. And most of the moviegoers wanted to see Fox's Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian , which took in an estimated $70 million over the four-day weekend. That turned out to be bad news for Warner Bros.' $200-million Terminator Salvation , which took in $53.8 million. Last year at this time Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had virtually no serious competition and raked in $126 million -- close to the combined total of Museum and Terminator . Paramount's Star Trek was perhaps the brightest star on the top-ten list as it added $29.4 million to its gross, which now stands at $191 million, and is set to become the top-grossing film of the year this week.

The top ten films for the four-day Memorial Day weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo 1. Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian , Fox, $70 million; 2. Terminator Salvation, Warner Bros./Halcyon, $53.8 million; 3. Star Trek , Paramount, $29.4 million; 4. Angels & Demons, Sony, $27.7 million; 5. Dance Flick, Paramount, $13.1 million; 6. X-Men Origins Wolverine , Fox, $10.1 million; 7. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past , Warner Bros./New Line, $4.8 million; 8. Obsessed, Sony/Screen Gems, $2.5 million; 9. Monsters vs. Aliens , Paramount/DreamWorks Animation, $1.9 million; 10. 17 Again , Warner Bros./New Line, $1.3 million.

26/05/2009