'Superbad' Still #1 With $18 Million

[comedyfreak]

Hollywood notched its first $4 billion summer as teen geeks helped Hollywood end the season in record fashion.

Sony's "Superbad," the comedy about three dorky high-schoolers trying to score booze for a party, was the No. 1 movie for a second straight weekend with $18 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie raised its 10-day total to $68.6 million.

"Superbad" was on its way to $100 million, an unusual accomplishment for a movie with no big stars.

"It just goes to show, you make them laugh, and they'll come," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which kicked off Hollywood's big summer with a record-breaking debut weekend of $151.1 million for "Spider-Man 3" in early May. "To start the summer with `Spider-Man' and end it like this is an absolute blast."

Though business is slowing down as parents and students prepare for a new school year, Hollywood continued its summer hot streak. The top 12 movies took in $90.2 million, up 7 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Invincible" opened at No. 1 with $17 million.

Overall, Hollywood crossed the $4 billion mark for the summer season. The figure topped the $3.95 billion set in 2004, according to box office tracker Media By Numbers.

Movies will have grossed about $4.15 billion by the time the season ends on Labor Day, up 8 percent from last summer, estimated Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

"Whether it be sequels, originals, comedies, action movies or whatever, this particular mix of films brought audiences in a record-breaking way," Dergarabedian said. "We still have to temper that with the fact that the number of tickets sold is nowhere near a record."

Weekend Box Office Estimates (U.S.)
This Wk Last Wk Title Dist. Weekend Gross Cumulative
Gross Rlse
Wks # of
Theaters
1 1 Superbad Sony Pictures Releasing $18,000,000 $68,572,000 2 2948
2 3 The Bourne Ultimatum Universal Pictures $12,361,000 $185,143,000 4 3679
3 2 Rush Hour 3 New Line Cinema $12,250,000 $109,013,000 3 3408
4 - Mr. Bean's Holiday Universal Pictures Distribution $10,121,000 $10,121,000 1 1714
5 - War Lionsgate $10,000,000 $10,000,000 1 2277
6 - The Nanny Diaries Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) $7,811,000 $7,811,000 1 2629
7 4 The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox $4,400,000 $173,437,000 5 2600
8 6 Stardust Paramount Pictures $3,954,000 $26,455,000 3 2339
9 7 Hairspray New Line Cinema $3,450,000 $107,456,000 6 2016
10 5 The Invasion Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $3,140,000 $11,515,000 2 2776
11 9 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. Pictures International, Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $2,480,000 $283,309,000 7 1322
12 8 Underdog Buena Vista Pictures Distribution $2,243,000 $36,637,000 4 2209