"Shark" Munches Up "Team America"

The shark mob chewed up those puppet cops, but left J.Lo just a little room to dance.

DreamWorks' CGI fishy family flick Shark Tale threepeated at the box office with $22 million from Friday to Sunday, per final studio figures Monday.

Team America: World Police, the political spoof from the South Park brain trust featuring a cast of marionettes, managed a wooden third-place debut of $12.1 million. It couldn't even beat down the reality-based high school football saga Friday Night Lights, which remained at number two for a second week, kicking up $12.2 million.

Shall We Dance?, the love-finds-its-feet romance partnering Jennifer Lopez with Richard Gere to the consternation of Susan Sarandon, twirled in fourth with $11.8 million.

Dance, a PG-13 remake of a Japanese film about the life-enhancing power of two-stepping, had the highest per-screen average of the wide releases, $6,650 from just 1,772 sites. A Miramax rep said the studio was "very happy" with the debut and "the great word of mouth," which suggests the film may have legs.

In contrast, Paramount's heavily hyped, R-ratedTeam America, in which a bunch of puppets do some decidedly un-PC police work against terrorists--and leftist celebs, fell short of expectations averaging just $4,420 per 2,639 sites. (Back in the summer of 1999, Trey Parker and Matt Stone's equal-opportunity-offending 'toon South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, grossed $11.3 million on its first weekend with a $5,327 per-site average at 2,128 theaters, and eventually tallied $52 million.)

The PG-rated Shark Tale dipped just 29 percent from last week, averaging $5,574 at 3,948 sites, 122 fewer than it opened in three weeks. Its haul now stands at $118.7 million. Universal's PG-13 Friday Night Lights, now in 2,764 sites, 97 more than it touched down in last weekend, only dropped 35 percent, with an average of $4,420 per theater, and has now scored $37.8 million.

In limited release, the top per-screen average belonged to Annette Bening's drama Being Julia, about a fading stage star in 1930s London, which averaged a whopping $14,538 at nine theaters for a total of $130,840.

Hair Show, the salon comedy starring Mo'Nique and Kellita Smith. The PG-13 IFG release opened at 38 sites and averaged $5,304 per to teased up $201,567.

Another IFG entry performed less successfully. Stephen King's Riding the Bullet rode into 100 sites, where the R-rated spooky road-trip flick spattered up $101,107.

Lions Gate's PG-13 The Final Cut, a sci-fi memory puzzle starring Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino and Jim Caviezel, sliced into 117 sites and earned $226,296 from a $1,934 average. Meanwhile, the indie distributor's R-rated ensemble comedy Eulogy, with a cast that includes Hank Azaria, Zooey Deschanel and Ray Romano, was placed at just 22 sites, where it tallied $41,788 for an average of $1,899 per.

Overall, the top 12 movies grossed $89.3 million, down 9 percent from last week and a 14 percent dip from this time last year, when the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre diced up $28 million in the top slot.

Here's a rundown of the top 10 as compiled by box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations from final studio figures:

1. Shark Tale, $22 million
2. Friday Night Lights, $12.2 million
3. Team America: World Police, $12.1 million
4. Shall We Dance?, $11.8 million
5. Ladder 49, $8.5 million
6. Taxi, $7.9 million
7. The Forgotten, $6 million
8. Raise Your Voice, $2.8 million
9. The Motorcycle Diaries, $1.8 million
10. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, $1.2 million

(Originally published Oct. 17, 2004 at 12:30 p.m. PT.)