By the Numbers

“Chicago” continues its strong showing, climbing into the top five despite its limited release pattern of only 623 theaters for the top per-theater average of $11,321. The Miramax musical will more than double its number of theaters this weekend.

The CIA-themed thriller “The Recruit,” with Al Pacino and Colin Farrell, edged out the youth horror thriller “Final Destination 2” as the weekend’s top-grossing film, but had a much higher per-venue average than its competitor, with an average of $6,861, compared with $5,652 for “Final Destination 2.”

Meanwhile, three films debuted in limited release. “The Guru” grossed $613,485 at 62 venues for an average of $9,895 per venue; the Mormon family comedy “The R.M.” grossed $130,352 at 15 venues for an average of $8,690; and “Lost in La Mancha” took in $63,303 at eight venues for an average of $7,913.

-- Robert W. Welkos

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY TOTAL VENUES AVERAGE WEEKS (STUDIO) GROSS (MILLIONS) PER VENUE 1 The Recruit (Buena $16.3 $16.3 2,376 $6,861 1 Vista) 2 Final Destination 2 $16.0 $16.0 2,834 $5,652 1 (New Line) 3 Biker Boyz (DreamWorks) $10.1 $10.1 1,766 $5,723 1 4 Kangaroo Jack (Warner $9.0 $45.9 2,848 $3,177 3 Bros.) 5 Chicago (Sony) $7.1 $50.6 623 $11,321 6 6 Darkness Falls (Sony) $7.0 $21.8 2,865 $2,450 2 7 The Lord of the Rings: $5.09 $316.0 2,175 $2,340 7 The Two Towers (New Line) 8 Catch Me If You Can $5.08 $152.2 2,316 $2,192 6 (DreamWorks) 9 Just Married (Fox) $4.8 $49.7 2,408 $1,998 4 10 About Schmidt (New $4.5 $44.2 1,236 $3,653 8 Line)

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Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.