Batman Begins soared to the top of North America’s box office last weekend, but the caped crusader failed to smash the opening record set by rival superhero Spider-Man, final figures showed on Monday.
The fifth film in the revived franchise, Batman Begins, starring British actor Christian Bale, reaped $48,7-million between Friday and Sunday, according to box office trackers Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
The picture, which co-stars Tom Cruise’s fiance, Katie Holmes, and which opened simultaneously in 73 other countries around the world, has taken in a total of $72,8-million in North America since its opening on Wednesday.
But it failed to come close to the opening weekend record set by fellow comicbook hero Spider-Man, which netted $114,8-million when the first film in that web-slinging series opened in May 2002.
But the new incarnation of the dark-loving crusader did beat out the performance of its 1989 forerunner Batman, starring Michael Keaton, which took $40,5-million 16 years ago.
The highest three-day domestic gross for a Batman film was the $52,7-million generated by the 1995 debut of Batman Forever, starring Val Kilmer as Batman and Tom Cruise’s ex-wife Nicole Kidman as his love interest.
The romantic spy adventure Mr and Mrs Smith, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie dropped into second place at the US box office from the top position a week earlier, grossing $26-million.
The animated animals of Madagascar finished third with $10,7-million, while the sixth and final film in the Star Wars space odyssey series, Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith slipped from third to fourth place with $10-million.
In fifth position at the weekend was the remake of the American football film The Longest Yard, starring US comedians Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, which hauled in $8,2-million.
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D was in sixth spot with ticket receipts of $6,6-million, followed by Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger’s boxing drama Cinderella Man with $5,5-million.
The romantic comedy The Perfect Man, starring Heather Locklear and Hilary Duff, was eighth with ticket sales of $5,3-million in its opening weekend.
The teen flick The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was ninth with S3,1-million, while The Honeymooners was 10th with receipts of S2,6-million.
The dozen top-grossing films earned a combined S129,5-million last weekend, down from the $130,5-million generated by the top 12 films over the same period a year earlier.
The results are the 17th in a row to show a dip in gross receipts, compared with the same period a year earlier — tying a record set in 1985.-Sapa-AFP