Columbia Pictures' new action comedy "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" debuted at No. 1 at the North American box office this weekend, but it still earned much less than the first movie released in 2000, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The second action of "Charlie's Angeles" earned 38 million US dollars, off 2.1 million from the opening numbers the first movie put up in November 2000. The sequel reunites Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as the indomitable crime-fighting heroines.
Meanwhile, the previous weekend's champ, "The Hulk," fell one spot to second place with ticket sales of 18.4 million dollars. Its total exceeded the 100-million-dollar mark after 10 days afterrelease.
Disney's cartoon hit "Finding Nemo" dropped one spot from last weekend to No. 3 with a take of 13.88 million dollars. The movie has grossed 253.9 million dollars in its 5th weekend since release.
The British fright flick "28 Days Later" managed to take the 4th spot with an unexpectedly strong 9.7 million dollars while playing in barely a third as many theaters as the big-studio movies.
Universal's "Bruce Almighty," starring comedian Jim Carrey, took No. 5 with 6.2 million dollars. Its gross sales in six weeks since release reached 221.3 million dollars.
The top 12 movies grossed an estimated 111.3 million dollars this weekend, down 15 percent from the same weekend last year. This was also the third straight weekend decline in revenues of North American box office.
(People's Daily July 1, 2003)
