Sydney Pollacks THE INTERPRETER, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, captured the top spot at the box office in its debut weekend ended April 24, 2005. The old-fashioned suspense thriller took in $22.8M for Universal, upending MGMs remake of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, last weeks champ, which hauled in $13.7M and $44.3M for a second place finish. Paramounts SAHARA (with vfx from Cinesite and Double Negative) dropped to third with $9M for a cume of $48.9M. Buena Vistas A LOT LIKE LOVE with Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher bowed in fourth place with $7.5M. Sony Picture Classics KUNG FU HUSTLE shot up to fifth place with $6.7M (with vfx help from Centro Digital Pictures) as it went into wide release. Foxs FEVER PITCH settled for the sixth slot with $5.5M and $31.5M. Dimensions SIN CITY (aided by vfx from CafeFx, Hybride and The Orphanage) fell to seventh place with $3.7M and $67.2M. Sonys GUESS WHO occupied the eighth spot with $3.5M and $62.3M. Fox/Blue Skys 3D-animated ROBOTS settled for ninth place with $3.4M and a handsome cume of $120.2M. And New Lines KINGS RANSOM debuted in ninth with $2.1M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
