Weekend box office

By R. Kinsey Lowe

July 26, 2005 12 AM PT

Coming in $300,000 ahead of DreamWorks’ preliminary estimates, “The Island” may not have sunk -- yet -- but the industry norm suggests that a big-budget movie tends to bring in roughly a third of its domestic total on opening weekend, which means that it will top out in the vicinity of $37.2 million.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” held up well in its second weekend, and “Wedding Crashers” toasted the highest per theater average in the Top 10.

“War of the Worlds,” meanwhile, has taken in $208.4 million domestically and, with its international grosses, the Spielberg sci-fi saga has topped $600 million worldwide.

-- R. Kinsey Lowe

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY GROSS TOTAL (MILL.) VENUES AVGVENUE WEEKS

1Charlie and $28.3 $114.1 3,790 $7,455 2 the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros.)

2Wedding $25.7 $80.4 2,925 $8,774 2 Crashers (New Line)

3Fantastic Four $12.6 $122.9 3,449 $3,667 3 (Fox)

4The Island $12.4 $12.4 3,122 $3,975 1 (DreamWorks)

5Bad News Bears $11.4 $11.4 3,183 $3,576 1 (Paramount)

6War of the $8.9 $208.4 3,265 $2,734 4 Worlds (Paramount)

7Hustle & Flow $8.0 $8.0 1,013 $7,915 1 (Paramount)

8The Devil’s $7.1 $7.1 1,757 $4,022 1 Rejects (Lions Gate)

9Batman Begins $4.7 $191.1 2,275 $2,078 6 (Warner Bros.)

10March of the $4.4 $9.3 695 $6,306 5 Penguins (Warner Independent)