Staff and agencies

Monday July 25, 2005



After a hopeful fortnight of improving box-office returns, slump seems to have returned to US cinemas this weekend. The week's big opener, The Island, failed to make much of a splash, leaving Charlie and the Chocolate Factory narrowly clinging to the top spot.

The Island boasts a stellar cast including Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannson, but the cloning-themed action movie from Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay could only manage fourth place in its opening weekend with a paltry $12.1m (£7m) haul.





It was unable to overtake comic book adaptation Fantastic Four, which managed another $12.3m (£7.1m) in third, and was a long way off the $26.2m (£15m) taken by the second-placed Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughn comedy Wedding Crashers.

The top 12 films took $128.9m (£74m), which means Hollywood has fallen back into the slump which had characterised 2005 before it managed to buck the trend with year-on-year rises in the previous two weeks.



Dreamworks, which distributed The Island, was at a loss to explain the film's disappointing return, which came despite reasonable reviews for the often-derided Bay.



Head of distribution, Jim Tharp, said: "Clearly, it's a disappointing opening. We can only hope the film finds its audience in the next few weeks."



Even worse off was the Billy Bob Thornton comedy remake Bad News Bears, about a washed-up ballplayer coaching a team of Little League misfits. It took fifth with just $11.5m on debut.



Meanwhile Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds climbed past the $200m mark with an extra $8.8m. Only Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, has done better this year, with $376m.