BOX OFFICE REMAINS ON A TEAR

Even with a film that was not even screened for critics coming in at No. 1, the box office’s hot streak continued uninterrupted over the weekend – as overall gross was projected to be about $112 million, 24 percent ahead of the comparable weekend a year ago, according to Media by Numbers. “We have never been in this strong a position heading into the summer season, ever,” Media by Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian told the Associated Press. The summer season kicks off next weekend with 20th Century Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which has received much positive buzz, possibly intensified by the online release of a pirated workprint late last month. Also opening is Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, which has also been tracking well. The following weekend brings the return of Star Trek.Still, it seemed like summer last weekend as the Beyoncé Knowles/Idris Elba thriller Obsessed, which reportedly cost $20 million to make,opened with a whopping $28.5 million in ticket sales, or about $11,300 per theater. But perhaps even more surprising was the strong debut for the nature documentary Earth.Playing on 1,804 screens, the Disney release took in $8.55 million – the highest weekend gross ever for a nature documentary and the third highest for any sort of documentary. It has earned $14.2 million since its opening on Wednesday, Earth Day. Meanwhile, last weekend’s champ, 17 Again and Universal’s new Fighting were in a close race for second place, with early estimates giving the Zac Efron starrer a slight edge – $11.66 million to $11.44 million for Fighting.Coming in fourth was the well-reviewed drama The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, with $9.71 million.

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{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers:

  1. Obsessed, $28.5 million; 2.17 Again, $11.7 million; 3. Fighting, $11.4 million; 4. The Soloist, $9.7 million; 5. Earth, $8.6 million; 6. Monsters vs. Aliens, $8.5 million; 7.State of Play, $6.9 million; 8.Hannah Montana: The Movie, $6.4 million; 9. Fast & Furious, $6.1 million; 10. Crank: High Voltage, $2.4 million.

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