KINGDOM OF HEAVEN opened lukewarmly for Fox yet still managed to lead a weak box office for the weekend ended May 8, 2005. Ridley Scotts epic about the Crusades took home $19.6M (with vfx from The Moving Picture Co., Double Negative, Framestore CFC and Clear), ahead of Warner Bros. HOUSE OF WAX (with vfx by Photon VFX), which bowed with $12M. Buena Vistas THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, last weeks leader (with vfx by Cinesite), slipped to third place with $9.7M and a cume of $35.7M. CRASH from Lions Gate debuted in fourth with $9.1M and Universals THE INTERPRETER dropped to the fifth spot with $7.8M and a three-week cume of $54.4M. Sony Revolutions XXX: STATE OF THE UNION (with vfx from ILM) followed in sixth place with $5.5M and $20.9M. Paramounts SAHARA (with vfx from Cinesite and Double Negative) finished seventh with $3.4M and $61.6M. Coming in eighth for MGM was THE AMITYVILLE HORROR with $3.3M and a cume of $60.3M. Buena Vistas A LOT LIKE LOVE settled for ninth with $3.1M and $18.9M. And Foxs FEVER PITCH finished 10th with $2.2M and a total of $39.2M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
