'Harry Potter' Delivers Knockout Punch To 'Shrek 2'
All it took was a little magic to beat the box-office ogre this week.
In its opening weekend, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" cast its spell on the box office, bringing in more than $92.6 million to land at the #1 spot, according to early estimates. The third installment of the "Harry Potter" series had the third-best three-day opening weekend ever, behind "Spider-Man," which brought in $114.8 million in 2002, and "Shrek 2," which took in $108 million last month.
Slipping down a spot this week is the plus-size star, Shrek, and his supporting cast of royalty and talking animals. In its third week in theaters, "Shrek 2" took in $37 million, bringing its total pull to $313.6 million.
In its second week in theaters, "The Day After Tomorrow" and its floods, storms and tornadoes lost some strength. The apocalyptic flick was knocked down from the #2 to the #3 spot on a take of $28 million.
Even with Hollywood sweetheart Kate Hudson starring, "Raising Helen" can't seem to rise from the #4 spot. The feel-good flick remains there after bringing in another $6.6 million.
Helen did, however, manage to tear down "Troy." In its fourth week in theaters, "Troy" dropped two notches to #5, raking in more than $5.7 million.
Lindsay Lohan and Snoop Dogg battled for the #6 spot this week, and though it was a close call, Lohan and her team of "Mean Girls" beat the flight crew of "Soul Plane." The film took in $2.9 million, gently ushering "Soul Plane" ($2.8 million) out of the top-six clique.
Rounding out the top 10 are "Van Helsing," which slips from #6 to #8 ($2.3 million); "Man on Fire" at #9 (more than $1 million); and "Super Size Me," which hangs on to the #10 spot for another week ($835,000).
Overall, the total box-office pull for the first weekend in June was up slightly from the same time last year.
Next weekend, look for Vin Diesel's "The Chronicles of Riddick" and Nicole Kidman's "The Stepford Wives" to knock two contenders out of the top-10 ring.
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