Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins earned the top spot in the weekend box office derby with an estimated take of $46.9 million, well ahead of last week's winner, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which dropped 45% and earned an estimated $27.3 million.  Batman Begins, which debuted mid-week (see 'Batman Has $15 Million Wednesday'), ran its cumulative total to a respectable $71 million, but in spite of strong reviews, its opening weekend's performance was hardly competitive with those of the top rung of comic book-based films such as Spider-Man ($114.8 million) or X2 ($85.6 million).  With no other films of note opening this past weekend, many Hollywood forecasters felt that Batman Begins would at least crack the $50 million mark with its initial weekend run at the domestic box office.

 

Batman Begins' per theater average of $12,165 was good, but noticeably lower than previous weekend box office winners including Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which earned over $14,000 per location last weekend.  Exit polls for the film have been strong, so perhaps it can avoid the more than 50% first-to-second week drop that is typical of most heavily hyped summer action blockbusters.  Batman Begins has earned an additional $41.1 million overseas so far so the franchise is not exactly in jeopardy, although the $150 million film will face stiffer competition in ten days with the opening of Steven Spielberg's adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

 

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith dropped from third to fourth place but still earned $9.7 million running its total to $347.8 million good for eleventh place all-time.  By next weekend the final installment of the Star Wars saga should move into the all-time top ten.

 

Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle expanded from 36 to 202 theaters and earned an estimated $802,00--good enough for thirteenth place on the list.  While Howl's per location average declined to an estimated $3,970, it was still the third best average take for a film available in more than 100 locations trailing only Batman Begins and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. 

 

In spite of Batman Begins' solid opening and strong continuing performances from Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Madagascar, Episode III and The Longest Yard, the total weekend box office take declined once again, marking the seventeenth straight week that the 2005 weekend take has failed to match that of the same weekend in 2004.