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Wedding Celebrations

The Age

Thursday August 7, 2003

Lawrie Zion

As the box office shows, just about everyone loves a wedding, reports Lawrie Zion

The Wedding, the third in the American Pie series, has taken the biggest portion of the box-office cake in its first weekend at the turnstiles in the United States.

With Friday-to-Sunday earnings of $US33.36 million ($51.47 million), the comedy, which opens on our screens today, grabbed the top spot from last week's number one, Spy Kids 3D, although it did about $US11 million ($16.96 million) less business in its opening frame than the second American Pie film.

But this was still almost 10 times the result achieved by the panned Gigli. The $US54 million ($83.29 million) romantic comedy thriller, which stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, could manage no higher than eighth place, taking just $US3.75 million ($5.78 million), a result that led one executive associated with the film's production to comment: ``We could never really sell this movie. I can't agree with the old adage of there being no such thing as bad publicity." Australian critics and audiences will get their chance to judge the movie in October.

Meanwhile, on Australian screens, Terminator 3 has made it three weeks on the trot as the number-one film in the country - two more than it managed in the US - after holding out the new release Identity, which debuted in the runner-up slot, but actually did proportionately better as it was showing in fewer locations.

The other new release to feature in the top five was Gwyneth Paltrow's feature, View From the Top, which opened in fourth place.

Bad Eggs, despite falling from third to fifth, held up well in its second week, dropping just 23 per cent from its opening frame - the lowest percentage fall of any top-10 film.

MOVIES
TOP 10
AUSTRALIA JULY 31-AUGUST 3
1   Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines          GROSS $1.7m TOTAL $14.9m
2   Identity                            GROSS $1.3m TOTAL $1.3m
3  Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle              GROSS $570,820 TOTAL $17.7m
4   View from the Top                   GROSS $510,429 TOTAL $512,263
5   Bad Eggs                            GROSS $497,200 TOTAL $1.3m
6   Bruce Almighty                              GROSS $339,895 TOTAL $19.8m
7   Danny Deck Chair                    GROSS $326,855 TOTAL $387,251
8   Daddy Day Care                      GROSS $223,071 TOTAL $14.3m
9   Confessions of a Dangerous Mind             GROSS $215,241 TOTAL $680,518
10 Confidence                           GROSS $190,794 TOTAL $721,482
US AUGUST 1-3
1   American Pie: The Wedding           GROSS $51.5m TOTAL $51.5m
2   Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over             GROSS $30.1m TOTAL $106m
3   Pirates of the Caribbean                    GROSS $29m TOTAL $324.2m
4   Seabiscuit                                  GROSS $27.2m TOTAL $76.1m
5   Bad Boys II                                 GROSS $19.6m TOTAL $172.2m
6   Tomb Raider 2                               GROSS $17.4m TOTAL $65.7m
7   Finding Nemo                                GROSS $5.8m TOTAL $495.3m
8   Gigli                                       GROSS $5.7m TOTAL $5.7m
9   The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen       GROSS $4.9m TOTAL $91.1m
10 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines           GROSS $4.4m TOTAL $221m
SOURCE MPDAA, WWW.LEESMOVIEINFO.NET

© 2003 The Age

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