Buena Vistas THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (with vfx by Cinesite) topped the box office chart in its debut for the weekend ended May 1, 2005, collecting $21.1M. Universals THE INTERPRETER, last weekends winner, slipped to second place, with $13.8M for a two-week total of $43.1M. The other big opener, XXX: STATE OF THE UNION (with vfx from ILM), didnt fare so well for Sony Revolution, as Ice Cube stepped in for Vin Diesel. The Lee Tamahori actioner netted a disappointed $12.7M for a third place finish. MGMs THE AMITYVILLE HORROR remake finished fourth with $7.8M and $54.8M to date. Paramounts SAHARA (with vfx from Cinesite and Double Negative) came in fifth with $5.7M and a cume of $56.8M. Buena Vistas A LOT LIKE LOVE settled for the sixth spot with $5M and a cume of $14.5M. Foxs FEVER PITCH slipped to seventh place with $3.5M and $36.3M. Sony Classics KUNG FU HUSTLE (with vfx from Centro Digital Pictures) plummeted to eighth place with $3.3M and $12.6M. The 3D-animated ROBOTS held the ninth spot for Fox/Blue Sky with $2.2M and a cume of $123.3M. And Sonys GUESS WHO took 10th place with $2.1M and $65.4M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
