HOUSE PARTY
The Steve Martin-Queen Latifah comedy Bringing Down the House remained No. 1 for a second straight weekend, taking in $22.4 million and pushing its 10-day total to $61.6 million.
The Frankie Muniz teen-spy flick Agent Cody Banks opened in second place with $15 million. Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro's The Hunted, a thriller about a tracker chasing a military hitman gone berserk, debuted at No. 3 with $13.5 million.
The weekend's other new wide release—Willard, starring Crispin Glover in a remake of the 1970s horror tale—debuted a distant No. 8 with $4 million.
Business fell overall, with the top 12 movies grossing $93.3 million, down 23% from the same weekend a year ago when Ice Age had a huge $46.3 million debut.
About 70% of the audience for Agent Cody Banks was 12 and younger, and the start of spring break at many schools gave the movie a boost.
Bringing Down the House, playing in 2,801 theaters, averaged a healthy $7,997 a cinema. Agent Cody Banks averaged $4,452 in 3,369 theaters, The Hunted averaged $5,366 in 2,516 cinemas and Willard did $2,286 in 1,761 moviehouses.
