Top 10 for May 20-22, 2005 Summary: Final numbers are in.
Awakening the box office from its early summer slumber with a roar was George Lucas's long-awaited final installment of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy
"Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," which shattered several opening weekend records on its way to a massive $158.4 million four-day domestic
take and $303 million worldwide since Wednesday. That makes "Sith" the biggest four-day opening in movie history, far surpassing the $134.3 million
opening of 2003's "The Matrix Reloaded," as well as the $110.2 million four-day take of 2002's "Episode II."
Averaging an eye-popping $29,619 in 3,661 theaters, Lucas fans lined up in droves all week long, starting with midnight showings on Wednesday night that
netted the film an unbelievable $16.9 million. By the end of Thursday, the Hayden Christensen-Ewan McGregor starrer had accumulated $50 million, making
it the biggest opening day in history, surpassing both "Shrek 2" and "Spider-Man 2." Receiving the first PG-13 rating of the entire series, as well as
the best reviews of the three prequels, "Sith" took in $33.8 million on Friday, followed by $40.9 million on Saturday, and another $33.7 million on
Sunday. Part of the reason "Sith" outgrossed "Attack of the Clones" in its opening weekend lies in the number prints for the two films. "Clones" was
carried in around 6,000 prints, while "Sith" launched in an ultrawide 9,400.
Budgeted at $113 million -- the bulk of which came directly out of Lucas's own pocket -- "Sith" also crushed the international opening weekend record
with an estimated $144.7 million, surpassing the 5-day $130 million opening of 2003's "LOTR: The Return of the King." If word of mouth can stay strong
throughout the remainder of June, expect "Revenge of the Sith" to become just the third film in history to surpass $1 billion mark in its initial
theatrical run (the original "Star Wars" did so only after a Special Edition re-release).
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