Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and its record-breaking theater count of 4,362 were able to top the per theater chart this weekend with $26,303. As impressive as that was, both Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 opened with better averages. Paprika opened in second place with $17,797, but while that's a great start, its niche market appeal will prevent it from expanding wide. Last week's winner, Once, fell to third with $16,607, but, given the film's expansion, this was an amazing hold. The Golden Door opened with an average of $13,872 in two theaters while Shrek the Third was close behind with $12,713.

Among the openers, The Boss of It All was the best of the rest, pulling in $7,855 in its lone theater. Angel-A was next with nearly $30,000 in 7 theaters for an average of $4,247 while Amu was roughly 1 ticket per theater behind with an average of $4,240 in two theaters. I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal struggled with an average of $2,667. Finally, 9 Star Hotel earned $2,200 in one theater.

This past week also saw milestones reached for several Per Theatere Chart alumni:

• Away from Her managed to grow this week, helping it hit $2 million over the weekend.
• Black Book made it to $3 million early in the weekend and should have little trouble getting to $4 million.
• Waitress reached $5 million over the weekend, and the only question now is if it will expand enough to graduate from this list.
• The Lives of Others topped ten million late last week, which is an amazing figure for a foreign language film.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2007-05-30