"Charlie" Tops "Bad News" Biz

The Bears weren't the only bad news at the cineplex.

After two consecutive weekends of up business, the box office melted down as the two biggest new releases, The Island and Bad News Bears failed to connect with their target audiences, and most holdovers dropped sharply, notably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Despite remaining number one, the fantasy flick fell 50 percent from its opening.

Warner Bros.' Johnny Depp-led confection licked up $28.3 million, according to official studio tallies Monday, to bring its two-week total to a tasty $114.1 million.

Chocolate Factory had a $7,454 per-site average, which was well below the weekend's big bright spot, Wedding Crashers. The New Line comedy dipped a scant 24 percent from its debut week, tallying $25.7 million in second place with a per-theater average of $8,774. Its gross is now $80.4 million.

As for the newbies, The Island was deserted by moviegoers, tallying just $12.4 million in fourth place from a per-site average of only $3,974 average at 3,122 sites. The Michael Bay sci-fi clone thriller, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, finished just behind Fantastic Four. The comic-book flick is in third place in its third week with $12.6 million from a $3,666 average at 3,449 sites.

Jim Tharp, DreamWorks' domestic distribution chief, admitted to Reuters that The Island, which reportedly cost $120 million to produce, had "a disappointing opening." He said he could only "hope that the film finds its audience in coming weeks." The studio, despite expecting trouble, had hoped to begin with at least $15 million.

Meanwhile, the updated take on Bad News Bears, starring Billy Bob Thornton in the role of the curmudgeon coach (played in the 1976 original by Walter Matthau), whiffed. The PG-13 Paramount release struck out with just $11.4 million in fifth place, with a $3,576 average at 3,183 sites.

It was better news for the studio's art-house arm, Paramount Classics, whose Hustle & Flow did well in limited release. The Sundance favorite, starring Terrence Howard as a pimp reaching for rap stardom, debuted in 1,013 theaters, where it averaged $7,914 for a total of $8 million.

While not rejected outright, Rob Zombie's ultra gory low-budget The Devil's Rejects entered in eighth place with $7.1 million. The R-rated Lions Gate film averaged $4,022 average at 1,757 sites.

Despite Chocolate Factory's drop, Warners had reason to be happy. The studio's Batman Begins only fell off 22 percent in its sixth week, grossing $4.7 million in ninth place for a super haul of $191.1 million, with $200 million in reach before the end of the season.

In 10th place was the Warner Independent Pictures documentary March of the Penguins. Expanding by 563 theaters to 695, the G-rated bird tale gained 189 percent to $4.4 million for a five-week march of $9.3 million.

Finally, opening in limited release, November, in which Courteney Cox constantly revises her memories of a violent robbery, couldn't break out of the general gloom. At just eight sites, the R-rated Sony Pictures Classic averaged just $2,726 for $21,813.

The top 12 movies finished with $129.1 million, a drop of 17 percent from last week and 7 percent from this time last year, when The Bourne Supremacy opened with a supremely strong $52.5 million.

Here's a recap of the top 10 films based on figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, $28.3 million
2. Wedding Crashers, $25.7 million
3. Fantastic Four, $12.6 million
4. The Island, $12.4 million
5. Bad News Bears, $11.4 million
6. War of the Worlds, $8.9 million
7. Hustle & Flow, $8 million
8. The Devil's Rejects, $7.1 million
9. Batman Begins, $4.7 million
10. March of the Penguins, $4.4 million

(Originally published July 24 at 1:15 p.m. PT.)