Weekend box office

Although overall box office was off sharply from the July Fourth weekend last year, some specialized movies have exceeded expectations. Among those, Focus Features’ “Swimming Pool,” a mostly in-English French drama, grossed $286,950 over the three days, or $22,073 per theater in 13 locations. The film, directed by Francois Ozon, played in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, and 58 more theaters will be added Friday. Another foreign movie, the New Zealand drama “Whale Rider,” remained strong, with $1.2 million in 209 screens. The movie has grossed $4.1 million since its release in early June.

-- Lorenza Munoz

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY GROSS TOTAL (MILL.) VENUES AVG/VENUE WK

1.Terminator 3: $44.0 $72.4 3,504 $12,569 1 Rise of the Machines (Warner Bros.)

2. Legally Blonde $22.2 $38.5 3,350 $6,633 1 2: Red, White & Blonde (MGM)

3.Charlie’s $14.0 $67.1 3,485 $4,020 2 Angels: Full Throttle (Sony)

4.Finding Nemo $11.1 $274.9 2,902 $3,811 6 (Disney/Pixar)

5.The Hulk $8.2 $117.0 3,291 $2,500 3 (Universal)

6.Sinbad: Legend $6.9 $10.1 3,086 $2,228 1 of the Seven Seas (DreamWorks)

7.28 Days Later $6.0 $20.6 1,407 $4,270 2 (Fox Searchlight)

8.The Italian Job $4.2 $83.9 1,584 $2,634 6 (Paramount)

9.Bruce Almighty $4.0 $228.6 1,929 $2,080 7 (Universal)

10. 2 Fast 2 $2.6 $119.4 1,779 $1,485 5 Furious (Universal)

*--*

Source: Nielsen EDI Inc.