Weekend Box Office

Small market: Apart from “Brown Sugar” opening at No. 3, the most interesting box-office news involved films opening in only a few theaters. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” knocked out a per-theater average of $73,441 in five sites. “Bowling for Columbine” also delivered a strike with an average of $26,125 in eight. Then there was the Madonna bomb: “Swept Away” shortly will be, with a total of $354,052 in 196 theaters.

Source: Nielsen EDI

*--* Movie (Studio) 3-day gross/ Total Screens/ Avg Wks in Release (millions) 1. “Red Dragon” $17.7 3,363 2 (Universal) $63.3 $5,250 2. “Sweet Home $14.3 3,313 3 Alabama” (Buena Vista) $84.7 $4,305 3. “Brown Sugar” $10.7 1,372 1 (Fox Searchlight) $10.7 $7,827 4. “The $9.1 2,573 1 Transporter” (Fox) $9.1 $3,540 5. “My Big Fat $8.5 2,016 26 Greek Wedding” (IFC Films) $159.0 $4,193 6. “The Tuxedo” $7.0 2,985 3 (DreamWorks) $37.0 $2,361 7. “White Oleander” $5.6 1,510 1 (Warner Bros.) $5.6 $3,714 8. “Tuck $5.3 1,185 1 Everlasting” (Buena Vista) $5.3 $4,446 9. “Knockaround $5.0 1,806 1 Guys” (New Line) $5.0 $2,778 10. “Barbershop” $4.0 1,911 5 (MGM) $65.4 $2,102

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