Merie Weismiller W, Dreamworks PicturesIt takes more than sorority girls and muscle cars to knock Ben Stiller and Co. out of the No. 1 spot.
Tropic Thunder held on to the box office crown for the second weekend in a row, with an estimated $16.1 million in ticket sales, bringing its total gross to $65.7 million.
The politically incorrect action-comedy starring Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. outearned four new releases, which might give strength to speculations last week that its underwhelming debut was caused by the Olympics (or specifically, Michael Phelps).
The Anna Faris-led comedy The House Bunny, about a booted Playboy bunny living in a college sorority, hopped into second place, with $15.1 million in ticket sales. Jason Statham's futuristic kill-or-be-killed action flick Death Race opened third with $12.4 million.
The week's other new releases weren't nearly as strong: Ice Cube's family-friendly The Longshots and Rainn Wilson's The Rocker finished No. 8 and No. 12, respectively.
While it's impossible to feel sorry for a movie that's grossed $489.2 in just six weeks, The Dark Knight failed to break any records for the first time since its release. Still, it earned another $10.3 million in ticket sales, enough to claim the No. 4 spot at the box office.
Elsewhere, Mamma Mia! earned another $4.3 million, bringing its total to $124.5 million over six weeks. The movie, starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, surpassed Hairspray as the third highest-grossing movie musical since the mid-1970s, per Box Office Mojo.
Here's a recap of the weekend's box office sales based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
- Tropic Thunder, $16.1 million
- The House Bunny, $15.1 million
- Death Race, $12.4 million
- The Dark Knight, $10.3 million
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars, $5.7 million
- Pineapple Express, $5.6 million
- Mirrors, $4.9 million
- The Longshots, $4.3 million
- Mamma Mia! $4.3 million
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, $4 million