Awaiting the Force, ‘Mummy’ Keeps No. 1 Wrapped Up

In the calm before the storm troopers, “The Mummy” held on to the No. 1 spot at the box office with $25.1 million as moviegoers endured the final “Star Wars”-less weekend of the year.

Earning a total of $80.8 million in only two weeks of release, the swashbuckling story of a group of explorers who accidentally resurrect an ancient Egyptian priest has become the season’s biggest blockbuster to date.

“The Mummy” and two other big-budget spectaculars--”Entrapment” and “The Matrix”--held off a horde of bacchanalian fairies in the latest film version of “William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The update of the Bard’s lighthearted romp through a mystical forest, starring Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci and Calista Flockhart, opened this week in fourth place with $4.4 million, according to industry estimates Sunday.

The high-stakes caper “Entrapment” was No. 2 with $8.7 million, while “The Matrix,” starring Keanu Reeves, was third with $4.5 million.

Opening in fifth place was the Hong Kong martial arts thriller “Black Mask,” starring Jet Li as a mild-mannered librarian who becomes a masked crime-fighter. The film earned $4.2 million.

The urban comedy “Trippin’,” about a rambunctious teenage daydreamer, debuted in seventh place with $2.6 million.

In limited release, “Tea With Mussolini,” the story of a boy raised by eccentric Englishwomen in World War II Italy, landed in 10th place in only 270 theaters, earning a per-screen average of $6,296.

This weekend was considered a virtual wasteland by most studios who feared a black hole-effect from the impending opening of “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.” The hyper-publicized sci-fi prequel will open Wednesday and is expected to draw audiences away from most other movies.

That may account for the unusually high number of smaller films in the top 10 this weekend, according to Robert Bucksbaum, a Reel Source Inc. movie analyst.

“You don’t usually want to open a film five days before the most anticipated film of the decade, and perhaps of all time,” he said. “When you do, you’re either hoping to get spillover audience from the sold-out ‘Star Wars’ shows, or you’re trying to appeal to a totally different audience.”

Films such as “Tea With Mussolini” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” are aimed at older audiences who couldn’t care less about The Force, while “Trippin’ ” and “Black Mask” may draw a younger crowd who can’t get tickets to the prequel, Bucksbaum said.

Rounding out the top 10 were “Life,” in sixth place with $2.9 million; “Never Been Kissed,” in eighth with $2.45 million, and “Election,” in ninth with $2.3 million.

Weekend ticket sales were 2.2% higher than the same weekend last year, when “Deep Impact” was No. 1.