Reptiles, Roberts Rake in the Receipts

Dinosaurs and Julia Roberts, those popular box-office superstars with teeth no one can ignore, gobbled up the competition over the weekend.

“Jurassic Park III” debuted with $50.8 million, surprising many with its ability to still attract a large audience despite the fact that the franchise is now 8 years old. The film, which opened Wednesday, grossed $81.4 million in its first five days.

Going for an entirely different audience, Roberts’ new romantic comedy, “America’s Sweethearts,” grossed $30.2 million for second place.

It marked only the second time that two films opened to more than $30 million on the same weekend. The previous time was in November of 1999, when the James Bond film “The World Is Not Enough” debuted against “Sleepy Hollow.”

Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., said ticket sales are running about 5% ahead of this time last summer, but Hollywood still needs big numbers from upcoming films such as “Planet of the Apes,” “Rush Hour 2” and “American Pie 2” if this summer’s box office hopes to eclipse the record $3 billion taken in during the summer of 1999.

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Weekend Box Office

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Three-day gross/ Screens/Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average 1. “Jurassic Park III”* $50.8 3,434 (Universal) $81.4 $14,785 2. “America’s Sweethearts” $30.2 3,011 (Sony/Columbia) $30.2 $10,024 3. “Legally Blonde” $11.1 2,695 (MGM) $43.5 $4,120 4. “The Score” $10.8 2,160 (Paramount) $37.2 $4,983 5. “Cats & Dogs” $6.8 3,040 (Warner Bros.) $72.5 $2,242 6. “The Fast and the Furious” $5.3 2,732 (Universal) $125.1 $1,950 7. “Scary Movie 2” $4.5 2,802 (Dimension) $61.8 $1,614 8. “Dr. Dolittle 2” $4.4 2,434 (Fox) $93.3 $1,808 9. “Final Fantasy” $3.7 2,649 (Sony/Columbia) $26.8 $1,381 10. “Kiss of the Dragon” $2.9 1,655 (Fox) $29.7 $1,762

Release 1. 1 2. 1 3. 2 4. 2 5. 3 6. 5 7. 3 8. 5 9. 2 10. 3

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*Opened Wednesday