'Star Wars' earns $108.5 million in first U.S. weekend

Yahoo News ^ | 05/22/2005 | AP

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Frank Oz provides the voice of Yoda in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

'Star Wars' earns $108.5 million in first U.S. weekend Sunday May 22, 3:03PM ET

George Lucas' final "Star Wars" movie scored the second-best three-day weekend of all time on Sunday, but the Force was not strong enough to prevent overall ticket sales in North America from posting a year-on-year-decline for the 13th consecutive weekend.

"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" sold an estimated $108.5 million worth of tickets for the Friday-to-Sunday period, taking its total to $158.5 million since it opened after midnight on Thursday.

Its four-day haul sets a new record, surpassing the $134.3 million tally of 2003's "The Matrix Reloaded." Its Thursday tally of $50 million also set a one-day record, beating the $44.8 million sum for "Shrek 2" last year.

The three-day weekend record is held by "Spider-Man," which opened to almost $115 million in 2002. "Revenge of the Sith" narrowly pipped "Shrek 2," which opened with $108 million. Rankings could change when final data are issued on Monday.

The new "Star Wars" film easily beat the opening weekends of its two most recent predecessors, all of which were released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.

"Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones" nabbed $80 million during its first weekend three years ago, while 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace" kick-started the 28-year-old franchise with a $64.8 million bow. They ended up with $311 million and $431 million respectively.

"Revenge of the Sith" answers the age-old question of how the evil warlord Darth Vader crossed over to the dark side. The critics were generally kind, perhaps mindful that "Sith" marks the end of an era and was not as bad as the last two much-maligned films. But Rolling Stone magazine lamented writer/director Lucas' "special knack ... of turning flesh-and-blood characters into cardboard cutouts."

According to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 films earned about $156 million during the weekend, down 4.5 percent from the year-ago period. The losing streak is expected to continue into the upcoming Memorial Day weekend since last year's holiday was a record.

"It's going to take a lot to reverse this trend," said Exhibitor Relations president Paul Dergarabedian. New releases next weekend include the animated comedy "Madagascar" and the football comedy remake "The Longest Yard."

Elsewhere at the box office, last weekend's champ "Monster-in-Law," starring Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda, slipped to No. 2 with $14.4 million, followed by sports comedy "Kicking & Screaming," starring Will Ferrell and Robert Duvall, with $10.5 million.

"Monster-in-Law" was released by New Line Cinema, a unit of Time Warner Inc. "Kicking & Screaming" was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal, which is majority owned by General Electric Co.

[Hank Rearden]

Thanks very much. I didn't think it was political, but suspected it might be like that "What the < bleep > Do We Know?" crapfest from last year. My neighbor talked me into seeing that one; what a runny-poop mess that awful waste of time turned out to be. I still shudder at the memories of observing it. The absolute worst thing I've seen in years, and a cult-recruiting film to boot. Ick.

< /rant >

[billorites]

"The Parrots of Telegraph Hill" could well have been a very political film, but it is not.

That's most surprising given the film maker's association, as cinematography consultant, with Michael Moore's Roger and Me movie. Talk about loathsome...

Regardless of the film maker's politics or those of Michael Bittner, it's still a very sweet and moving documentary that you can take your whole family to. I really liked it and will remember it.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The very best scene in ROTS - in all six movies for that matter - was at the opera, when Palpatine tells Anakin about "the Tragedy of Darth Plagueus" (I presume that's how it's spelled). Ian McDiarmid should win the Best Supporting Actor award for that scene alone, for he manages to communicate so much without actually saying what he means. Much of it goes past Anakin, but not all. In that moment, the audience sees just what an evil, ruthless, amoral, manipulative man Palpatine is - while the surface conversation that anyone might overhear is just an interesting tale seemingly unrelated to anything. The feral grin he lets slip when he speaks of the Sith Lord being murdered in his sleep by his apprentice strongly suggests that Palpatine was that apprentice. He knows just how to set the hook of temptation in Anakin, who for all his impulsive, arrogant behavior becomes a sympathetic character at that point - it's clear he is way over his head in dealing with Palpatine, just as the Jedi Coucil fears.

That scene must have been written by Tom Stoppard - Lucas isn't capable of that kind of dialogue and it takes an actor of McDiarmid's caliber to pull it off.

[Sloth]

McDiarmid did outstanding work in this movie.

[Hank Rearden]

Thanks; I'll make a point to see it before it goes, while waiting for Star Wars to die down. I loathe crowded theaters.

[Uncle Vlad]

That was one of the most quietly terrifying scenes I've ever seen in a movie. It showed the absolutely seductive power of evil. Wow!

[cowboy_code]

Bingo!
Get ready for MORE remake crap....."Love Bug" too.

[AmishDude]

Indeed, it was brilliantly done. You know, it might have been Stoppard, but this kind of exposition is exactly what Lucas likes. It's a problem for him, actually. I wouldn't doubt that most of the speech was original to Lucas. It's kind of sad that McDiarmid won't win an award (maybe People's Choice) for Supporting Actor.

Something I caught: Dooku's method of execution reminded me of the greatest English performance of Cyrano de Bergerac I'd ever seen. It's a Channel 4 production with Derek Jacobi. At the end of the first scene, Cyrano cuts off the nose of his opponent in the same way. I wonder if Lucas was referencin that.

[Hank Rearden]

Thanks for the tip; saw it this afternoon. Good film, and only a little bit hippie-dippy. Nice birdies.

But that guy, down deep, is just a bum.

[billorites]

Yes, very hippy-dippy, but poignant and enjoyable.

He's definitely a lost soul and a gentle one, but I found him attractive and sympathetic. I wish him well. I'm pleased to see that his book has been well received and is selling. Hope his love life prospers as well.

My 11 y.o. is a bird nut. He's been talking about the film frequently since yesterday.

Speaking of hippies, when I was in college there was an "art house" movie theater run by phreaks showing that kind of movie. Now they're still running the theater and are the national distributor for The Parrots of Telegraph Hill.