Despite some mixed reviews, hoards of SEX AND THE CITY (New Line, vfx by Big Film Design) lovers turned out to see what happened next for Carrie Bradshaw and the girls, earning $56.85 million (actuals) in the opening weekend, ending June 1. It's the best-ever opening weekend for an R-rated comedy.
Paramount's INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, last week's huge winner, placed a respectable second with $44.75M, easily pushing the two-week gross to $215.64M. The fourth Indy film's vfx were by ILM, Gentle Giant Studios and Stan Winston Studio.
Counterprogammer THE STRANGERS (Rogue Pictures), a Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman horror/thriller, opened in third place with $20.998M.
Paramount's IRON MAN (vfx by ILM, The Orphanage, The Embassy, Gentle Giant Studios, Lola Visual Effects, Pixel Liberation Front and Stan Winston Studio) hauled in $13.54 million, good enough for fourth place, pushing the five-week cume to $276.166M.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN earned another $12.7M for Disney (vfx by Moving Picture Company, Framestore CFC, Baseblack, Escape Studios, Giant Studios, Rising Sun Pictures, ScanlineVFX and Weta Digital), doing $115.36M in three weeks.
Fox's amiable rom-com WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS placed sixth with $6.68M and a four-week cume of just more than $65.9M.
SPEED RACER fell to seventh place with $2.26M for Sony (vfx by BUF, CIS Hollywood, CafeFX, Digital Domain, Evil Eye Pictures, Gentle Giant Studios, Halon Ent., ILM, Lola Visual Effects, Rainmaker, Rising Sun Pictures and Sony Imageworks) and a four-week gross of $40.68M.
Amy Pohler-Tina Fey comedy BABY MAMA stuck in there for a sixth week, earning $2.19M for eighth place. The Universal film has done $56.12M.
Ninth place went to Patrick Dempsey's MADE OF HONOR (Sony, vfx by Lola Visual Effects and Moving Picture Company) with $1.91M and $42.88M over five weeks.
Universal's FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (Universal) got tenth place with $1.06M and $60.49M in seven weeks.
Fox's DR. SEUSS' HORTON HEARS A WHO! made another $367,734 for a 12-week cume of $152.6M.
Box office information from BoxOfficeMojo.com.
