WILL SMITH - WILL SMITH IS GOLD AT BOX OFFICE

WILL SMITH IS GOLD AT BOX OFFICE

Will Smith displayed his superpowers at the box office over the weekend as his poorly reviewed Hancock opened in first place with $62.6 million, making it Smith's 12th No. 1 opener. Still, Hancock was no Transformers , last year's Fourth-of-July blockbuster, and the overall box office for the year retreated behind 2007's by 0.65 percent to $4.81 billion (versus $4.84 billion), according to Media by Numbers. More significantly, the attendance gap between last year and this widened slightly to 3.46 percent. Overall, the box office recorded $153.19 million in total ticket sales, compared with $165.45 million a year ago, a 7.41-percent decline. Last weekend's top film, WALL-E dropped 48 percent to $32.5 million, while the Angelina Jolie thriller Wanted slipped to third place with $20.1 million, a 61-percent plunge.

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. Hancock , Sony, $62,603,879, 1 Wks. ($103,877,446 -- from Tuesday); 2. WALL-E, Disney, $32,509,206, 2 Wks. ($127,196,028); 3. Wanted , Universal, $20,050,070, 2 Wks. ($90,186,395); 4. Get Smart, Warner Bros., $11,109,408, 3 Wks. ($98,100,652); 5. Kung Fu Panda, Paramount, $7,318,635, 5 Wks. ($193,221,867); 6 . The Incredible Hulk , Universal, $4,899,280, 4 Wks. ($124,841,395); 7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Paramount, $3,774,807, 7 Wks. ($306,428,521); 8. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, Picturehouse, $3,296,929, 3 Wks. ($5,822,544); 9. Sex and the City: The Movie , Warner Bros, $2,382,438, 6 Wks. ($144,891,325); 10. You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Sony, $1,981,251, 5 Wks. ($94,773,156).

08/07/2008