Rush Hour 3 easily topped the weekend's box office, taking in nearly $50 million. It failed to match the opening take of its predecessor, but that was to be expected. It has been six years since that last film, and the careers of its two leads have not exactly been sparkling of late. The situation is not helped by the fact that the movie is not all that good. Sure, the leads have some chemistry, but Tucker's brand of comedy is becoming seriously unfunny, and Jackie Chan just seems a little tired. However, it still drew well from all demographics, and was inoffensive enough.Aside from Rush Hour 3, two other films made their top ten debuts this week. Firt up is the fantasy Stardust, placing fourth. I was completely unsure of what to expect when I went in. The movie turned out to be a breath of fresh air, an original vision brought to the screen by director Matthew Vaughn. Vaughn is a bright young talent, fresh off of Layer Cake, and now moving onto Thor. If Stardust is any indication of what to expect, I am looking forward to it. The other new entry is Daddy Day Camp, sequel to Daddy Day Care, which barely squeeked into the list, finishing tenth. This will end up being considered a bomb, it doesn't help that the stars of the original, including Eddie Murphy, declined to return.
Of the returning films, Hairspray fared the best, slipping a mere 31% from last week. It is a real crowd pleaser, I know I was surprised by how good it was. At the other end of the spectrum, The Simpsons Movie dropped the most, down 55% from last week. Following its incredible opening, it seems to be slipping rather fast. Sure, it came in third overall, but it has just plummeted over the two weeks since its opening. It will likely level off over the next couple of weeks as it makes its run for $200 million.
Transformers slipped out of the top ten, but successed in crossing the $300 million barrier. It was the fourth film to do so this year, and seems likely that it will surpass Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for third place on the yearly list so far. The next to make a play for the triple century is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, although it will take a few more weeks to deal with dipping attendance. It will be a close one.
Next week will see the new take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers called The Invasion starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, The Last Legion which tells the tale of Excalibur, and the new comedy from Seth Rogen, Superbad. Also entering limited release is the comedy Death at a Funeral which looks to be very funny.
Three movies dropped off the top ten this week: Transformers (11), Hot Rod (14), and BRATZ (15).
| This Week | Last Week | Title | Wknd Gross | Overall | Week in release |
| 1 | N | Rush Hour 3 | $49,100,158 | $49,100,158 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | The Bourne Ultimatum | $32,879,125 | $131,552,425 | 2 |
| 3 | 2 | The Simpsons Movie | $11,269,651 | $152,381,993 | 3 |
| 4 | N | Stardust | $9,169,779 | $9,169,779 | 1 |
| 5 | 6 | Hairspray | $6,396,666 | $92,139,670 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | Underdog | $6,352,377 | $24,643,289 | 4 |
| 7 | 4 | I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry | $5,877,915 | $103,777,170 | 4 |
| 8 | 5 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | $5,432,130 | $272,047,388 | 5 |
| 9 | 7 | No Reservations | $3,855,029 | $32,025,018 | 3 |
| 10 | N | Daddy Day Camp | $3,402,678 | $4,887,285 | 1 |
Box Office Predictions Recap
This week saw my predictions being either really close, or really off. My placings were spotty throughout the field, except for Becoming Jane and El Cantante, which I was so far off that it was laughable. I guess films like that won't be top ten material until this fall. At the other end of the spectrum I was pretty close with the top two spots, in both placing and box office. As for Stardust, I was close on placement and way off on box office, best I can say there is: go see it, you will not be disappointed. Daddy Day Camp did surprise me and make the top ten, but just barely.
Anyway, here is how I picked the field:
| Actual | Prediction | Title | Wknd Gross | Prediction |
| 1 | 1 | Rush Hour 3 | $49,100,158 | $55 million |
| 2 | 2 | The Bourne Ultimatum | $32,879,125 | $33 million |
| 4 | 3 | Stardust | $9,169,779 | $19 million |
| 3 | 4 | The Simpsons Movie | $11,269,651 | $15 million |
| 6 | 5 | Underdog | $6,352,377 | $8 million |
| 7 | 6 | I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry | $5,877,915 | $6 million |
| 12 | 7 | Becoming Jane | $2,902,117 | $5 million |
| 8 | 8 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | $5,432,130 | $4.5 million |
| 5 | 9 | Hairspray | $6,396,666 | $3.5 million |
| 16 | 10 | El Cantante | $1,401,148 | $3 million |
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