“The 40-Year-Old Virgin” enjoyed a second romp on top at the weekend box office Sunday, and overall ticket sales tumbled to their lowest level since early May in the dying days of summer.
“Virgin” sold $16.4 million worth of tickets in the three days beginning Friday, taking its 10-day haul to $48.7 million. The $26 million comedy, starring Steve Carell as a store clerk who never got around to going all the way, was released by Universal Pictures.
The top 10 contained two new releases, led by the historical fantasy “The Brothers Grimm” at No. 2 with $15.1 million. Debuting at No. 6 was the monster movie “The Cave” with $6.2 million. A third new wide release, “Undiscovered,” a romance starring pop singer Ashlee Simpson, stayed true to its title, opening with just $690,000.
“Grimm,” starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the sibling purveyors of fairy tales, was directed by Terry Gilliam, the man behind “12 Monkeys” and “Brazil.” It was released by Dimension Films, a division of Miramax Films.
“The Cave,” about monsters who terrorize a group of adventurers, was released by Screen Gems, the mid-budget division of Sony Pictures.
The top-12 films grossed $82.8 million, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co., down 16 percent from last weekend, and down 2.5 percent from the year-ago period. The tally represents the lowest level since the May 6-8 weekend, when “Kingdom of Heaven” led a $78 million weekend.
The studios have all rolled out their big summer flicks, and will be dumping their leftovers over the next few weekends into increasingly empty theaters as moviegoers make the most of the late summer.
The rest of the top five were each down one place from last weekend: the thriller “Red Eye” (DreamWorks) was at No. 3 with $10.4 million in its second weekend; the urban drama “Four Brothers” (Paramount) earned $7.8 million in its third; and the comedy “Wedding Crashers” (New Line) pulled in $6.3 million in its seventh.
Universal Pictures is a unit of NBC Universal, which is controlled by General Electric Co. Miramax Films is a unit of Walt Disney Co. Sony Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. DreamWorks SKG is privately held. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. New Line Cinema is a unit of Time Warner Inc.
“Undiscovered” was released by Lions Gate Films, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.