Universal's 2 Fast 2 Furious accelerated into the number one spot in the weekly box office derby in spite of a preponderance of negative reviews of the teen-oriented street-racing feature.  With an estimated gross of $52 million 2 Fast 2 Furious proved to be the kind of teen film that is virtually critic-proof -- and in so doing demonstrated the continued viability of the Japanese-inspired street-racing scene that Tokyopop is exploiting with its Initial D manga and anime series and other releases (see 'The Fast and The Furious -- Documentary Style').

 

Finding Nemo slipped to second place, but dropped only 35% while garnering some $45.8 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $143 million.  The Pixar blockbuster, with its theme of a father searching for his son, should remain solid through the upcoming Father's Day weekend and is highly likely to become the year's top animated film, and perhaps the second highest grossing cartoon feature of all time.  Jim Carrey's Bruce Almighty also continued to perform well, taking in over $21 million and running its cumulative total to over $170 million, meaning that it's almost certain to cross the $200 million mark.

 

The Matrix Reloaded dropped another 45%, but still took in $8.4 million and ran its cumulative to nearly $250 million.  The IMAX edition of The Matrix Reloaded opened at 39 theaters and grossed an additional $700,000, with a per theater average that was the highest of the weekend.  X2's run is winding down (it dropped almost 500 screens again), but it still brought in over $3 million (good for seventh place) and ran its total to $204 million.