The Ben Stiller directed film continued its reign at #1.
DreamWorks and Paramount’s holdover comedy “Tropic Thunder” continued to dominate at the Labor Day box office with three-day take of $11.5 million from 3,473 theaters, while 20th Century Fox’s Van Diesel sci-fi actioner “Babylon A.D.” grabbed the No. 2 spot with $9.7 million from 3,390.
It’s the third weekend in a row that the Ben Stiller-directed “Tropic Thunder” has won.
Overall theater traffic was slow, however, even with the entry of “Babylon” and four other new wide players. Final four-day numbers for the long holiday weekend–and final frame of summer–won’t be released until Monday, but sesh looks to be down by as much as 14% over last year, when “Halloween” redo made $26.4 million for the three days, and $30.6 million for the four.
If there were any bright spots, they largely belonged to “Tropic Thunder” and Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight,” which continued to make news as it crossed the $500 million mark on Sunday, becoming only the second pic in history to earn north of $500 million after “Titanic.”
Overture’s Don Cheadle-Guy Pearce political thriller “Traitor” opened solidly son the strength of adult moviegoers, grossing an estimated $7.9 million from 2,054 theaters through Sunday for a strong per location average $3,846 and a five-day cume of $9.5 million. Film came in No. 5 for the weekend.
[Credit: Variety / Media By Numbers]