NATIONAL BOX OFFICE: ‘Hulk’ Is A Monster

SEBRING, June 16, 2008 – Father’s Day weekend was clobberin’ time, not for the Thing, but for The Incredible Hulk, which took the top spot for June 13-15 with a $55.4 million gross.

Kung Fu Panda dropped just over 40 percent, by film standards, not much of a decline, and earned $33.6 million and the No. 2 box office spot. It was the champ last week.

M. Night Shyamalan isn’t finished – yet. The idiosyncratic writer/director/producer’s The Happening grossed $30.5 million to claim the No. 3 spot in the mix. Fox only has to overcome a relatively modest $50 million budget plus promotional costs, something The Happening should be able to accomplish between its North American and worldwide release.

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan dropped a hefty 57.5% to earn $16.3 million. Adam Sandler may have a tough time getting his racy comedy to earn back its estimated $90 million plus budget.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull collected a healthy $14 million plus this past weekend to finish No. 5. Not only that, but at a total gross of $276.5 million, it is the third best earning Steven Spielberg film behind E.T. and Jurassic Park.

Rounding out the Top Ten in order were: Sex and the City (cumulative gross of $119.5 million), Iron Man (c.g. of $297.9 million), The Strangers, The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian (c.g. of $131 million), and What Happens in Vegas, which has earned about three times what it cost to make, a tidy profit.

In Sebring, The Hulk, Kung Fu Panda, and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan play at the Fairmount Cinema 6. Indy, Narnia, Sex and the City, The Happening, and The Stranger play at the Carmike Cinema 8 at the Lakeshore Mall. For movie showtimes, please go to the links on the RIGHT SIDEBAR.