The four-day Labor Day weekend box office total was almost identical with 2005's lackluster total, but none of three new action film releases could top the football drama Invincible, which remained number one with an estimated four-day total of just $15 million.  Last year Transporter 2 starring Jason Stratham took the top spot with over $20 million, but Crank, which also starred Stratham in what could be described as a drug-induced physiological version of the 1994 film Speed, could manage only $13 million.

 

With the kids headed back to school, the next few months of the Hollywood season will be given over to quirky comedies, adult-oriented 'art' films and documentaries, and a steady stream of horror films.  Warner Bros. got the jump on the Halloween season with a remake of the cult hit horror film The Wicker Man, which finished a close third with an estimated total of $11.7 million. 

 

Little Miss Sunshine cemented its position as the sleeper hit of the summer with a fifth place finish and a strong (for a film that has been out for six weeks) $6,000 per theater average.  The period drama, The Illusionist, did well in its first week of wide release earning $8 million and averaging $8,260 per theater (the highest average of any film in wide release).

 

In spite of the fact that no film was able to earn even $20 million, this Labor Day's total was able to match last year's because of the extraordinary number of films that earned significant dollars including Talladega Nights, which brought in another $7 million, and Pirates of the Caribbean, which added another $5 million to bring its cumulative past $414 million.  Even Pixar's Cars and Warner Bros. Superman Returns, which finished at numbers 16 and 17 respectively, managed to add over a million to their box office totals.