MOVIE WEEKEND:
THE GRASS ISN'T GREENER

So far this year, the movie industry has been looking a lot like the music industry. For the ninth consecutive week, the box office was down, although this weekend came within spitting distance of the same weekend in 2004. The top 12 movies took in $83.4 million, according to early AP reports.

Topping the competition with $22.8 million was an Sydney Pollack’s The Interpreter, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. In contrast with recent weeks, the Universal film lured adults—60% of ticket buyers were 35 or older, according to reports.

The week’s other debut, Disney’s younger-leaning romantic comedy A Lot Like Love, limped to a total of $7.8 million, putting it at #4, a setback for emerging star Ashton Kutcher. In between were holdovers The Amityville Horror (MGM, $14.2 million) and Sahara (Paramount, $9 million).

Gaining strength in its third week but first in wide release was the slapstick martial arts movie Kung Fu Hustle (Sony Classic), which took in $7.3 million to finish #5.

The rest of the top 10: #6 Fever Pitch (Fox, $5.45 million), #7 Sin City (Dimension, $3.7 million), #8 Guess Who (Sony, $3.5 million), #9 Robots (Fox, $3.3 million) and #10 King's Ransom (New Line, $2.4 million).

The well-reviewed Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room could become another powerhouse documentary, based on an encouraging first weekend tally of $70,000 in just three theaters.

Things will pick up in May, which will see the release of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Ridley Scott’s Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven and a star-studded remake of The Longest Yard.