LOS ANGELES (AP) – “War of the Worlds” conquered the box office as easily as the movie’s aliens overpowered Earth. Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise’s sci-fi tale took in $77.6 million over the long Fourth of July weekend, lifting its total since debuting last Wednesday to $113.3 million, according to studio estimates Monday.
That fell well short of the all-time high held by “Spider-Man 2,” whose $180.1 million haul in its first six days led Hollywood to a record Fourth of July weekend last year. The top 12 movies took in $160.1 million, off 25 percent from that 2004 record weekend. It was the 19th-straight weekend that domestic revenues were down compared to last year’s, extending Hollywood’s longest slump since analysts began tracking detailed box-office figures. The worst downturn previously recorded was 17 weekends in 1985.
For the year, revenues are down about 7 percent, while factoring in higher ticket prices, admissions are off 10 percent. The longer the slump drags on, the harder it gets for Hollywood to dig itself out of that revenue hole, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. “There’s a spotlight on the slump and people’s dissatisfaction about going to the movies. That negative perception can create a negative reality,” Dergarabedian said. “It also gives people the opportunity to vent all the reasons they don’t like going to movies, whether it’s high ticket prices or the costs at the concession stand. So they feel validated in that by the slump.”
“War of the Worlds,” Spielberg and Cruise’s update on H.G. Wells’ classic about space invaders laying siege to Earth, had the second-best four-day opening over Fourth of July, behind the $115.8 million for “Spider-Man 2.” “Anybody disappointed with the second-biggest opening ever on Fourth of July weekend should really sort of seek help,” said Rob Friedman, vice chairman for motion pictures at Paramount, which handled domestic distribution for “War of the Worlds.”
The studio hopes “War of the Worlds” will have a long shelf life at theaters, since Spielberg and Cruise’s audiences tend to skew older than crowds that rush out over opening weekend for such comic-book adaptations as “Spider-Man 2,” Friedman said. “This is not a sequel. It’s not based on a comic book and a young fan-based property. This is based on a 100-year-old literary property,” Friedman said. Spielberg and Cruise’s “movies tend to play longer, stay in the marketplace longer, so I think as it relates to ‘Spider-Man 2,’ we’ll have to wait and see what the long haul brings.”
Opening in 78 countries last week, “War of the Worlds” took in an additional $102.5 million overseas from Wednesday to Sunday [Reuters: $15.7 million in Britain, $15.1 million in Japan and $7.8 million in Spain], putting its worldwide total at well over $200 million. Paramount did not yet have figures on how much the movie took in internationally on Monday.
“War of the Worlds” bumped “Batman Begins” to second place after two weekends in the top box-office slot. “Batman Begins” hauled in $18.7 million over the four-day weekend to raise its three-week domestic total to $154.1 million. The weekend’s other new wide release, Martin Lawrence’s basketball comedy “Rebound,” fouled out with just $6 million from Friday to Monday, coming in at No. 7.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
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