The lure of seeing martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li together for the first time proved too irresistible for a lot of weekend moviegoers. Lions Gate Films’ kung fu fantasy flick The Forbidden Kingdom kicked its way to the top of the North American box office with an estimated $20.8 million. Featuring visual effects by Frantic Films, Svengali FX and Macrograph, the film led a fairly weak frame at the nation’s multiplexes, which should get a big boost next month with the start of the summer blockbusters.
Coming in at second place, Universal’s romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall took in approximately $17.3 million. The latest effort from producer Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up) has been a hit with critics and did fairly well in its first week, considering it follows closely on the heels of Drillbit Taylor, a significant disappointment from the Apatow comedy machine. Sarah Marshall pushed last week’s top draw, Sony ScreenGems’ slasher remake Prom Night, to the No. 3 spot with an estimated $9.1 million.
Brutalized by critics, Sony’s crime thriller 88 Minutes earned just $6.8 million (est.) to debut at No. 4, despite the star power of Al Pacino. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox’s family-friendly fantasy pic, Nim’s Island, dropped a notch to No. 5 with an estimated $5.6 million bringing its five-week domestic gross to around $32.8 million. The only other film to open in fairly wide release was the Ben Stein documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which made approximately $3.1 million in 1,052 theaters.
The box office heats up next month with the debut of Marvel’s Iron Man on May 2, followed by Warner Bros.’ Speed Racer on May 9, Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian on May 16 and Paramount’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on May 22. Things start to get animated again on June 6 with the debut of DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda, and the June 27 bow of Disney/Pixar’s WALL’E.
