What does it take for a movie to earn a huge opening weekend at the box office? Simple: dinosaurs, mummies, apes, and... Chris Tucker? Yep. ''Rush Hour 2,'' starring Tucker and Jackie Chan, sped into theaters this weekend, grossing an estimated $66.8 million to become the fourth highest debut ever. The top 3 are 1997's ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' ($72.1 million) and this summer's ''Planet of the Apes'' ($68.5 million) and ''The Mummy Returns'' ($68.1 million).
''Rush Hour 2'''s mammoth take doubles that of its predecessor, 1998's ''Rush Hour'' ($33 million). And it's also the best opening ever in the month of August, trouncing the previous No. 1, 1999's ''The Sixth Sense,'' which earned $26.7 million in its first weekend. For moviegoers of all ages and races, this was the high octane comedy they've been waiting for this summer. ''Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan have an incredible magic together that you can't duplicate,'' the film's producer, Arthur Sarkissian, told Reuters. ''People cheer, they laugh, they're having an incredibly good time.''
The family friendly ''Princess Diaries'' also opened better than expected, landing in third place with an estimated $23.2 million. Though the film was rated G, advertising for the Garry Marshall directed modern fairy tale played up its similarities to Marshall's other Cinderella story, ''Pretty Woman.'' Indeed, many critics and journalists have compared ''Princess'' star Anne Hathaway to a young Julia Roberts.
But the news wasn't so good for ''Original Sin,'' the Angelina Jolie - Antonio Banderas erotic thriller, which opened in sixth place with a measly $6.4 million. Despite the promise of steamy chemisty between the two stars, audiences were scared away by horrific reviews and the film's oft changing release date.
Elsewhere, ''Planet of the Apes'' continued this summer's trend of huge openings followed by dramatic dropoffs, as the Tim Burton remake fell a staggering 58 percent to finish in second place with $28.5 million. The film has, however, grossed almost $125 million after only 10 days, and that's not chimp change.
And in only two theaters, the expanded ''Apocalypse Now Redux'' earned an impressive $96,000, proving that fans weren't dismayed by the film's three-hours-plus running time.
See the latest Box Office Chart
Look at movie grades from readers and critics -- and rate some yourself
Read EW's movie reviews
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.