Early summer movies underperform at box office
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Moviegoers are not following the  script written for them by the Hollywood studios. In a sign  that big-budget sequels may be losing their allure, North  American ticket sales for the first three big films of the  lucrative summer season have not kept pace with their  respective predecessors.
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Despite mediocre reviews, &#39;National Treasure,&#39; the action adventure film starring Nicolas Cage, took home first place at the box office this weekend with a take of $35.3 million.
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Overseas boxoffice tends to slacken at this time of the year, but two newcomers -- "Shark Tale" and "Wimbledon" -- showed early promise in kickoff dates over the weekend, while M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" topped &#36;100 million in international gross and "Garfield" neared membership in the &#36;100 million club.
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Three new movies make U.S. debuts  and one independent film, shark tale "Open Water," expands  nationwide on Friday as the summer winds down to what should be  a record box office haul fueled by hit sequels.
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Summertime in Hollywood is not as hot as it looked at the beginning.
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'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' will probably reap a fresh fortune. And as summer franchise superhero flicks go, it's mostly tolerable.
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The all-star caper film "Ocean's Thirteen" made off with $37.1 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend to steal the No. 1 spot at the North American box office, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
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As the summer winds  down, potential moviegoers might choose to take in the last few  rays of sunshine rather than cloister themselves inside a  darkened theater. Hollywood is counteracting that urge by  throwing a lot of films at audiences this weekend, hoping at  least one movie sticks.
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Sale of on-demand set-top box service to Movie Gallery, at $10 million, is well below last year's investment of $48.5 million.
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Management might favor lower-budget films. Shareholders should hope so.
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US summer box office takings surpass $4bn for the first time as comedy Superbad tops the chart.
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By the standard box office reckoning, DreamWorks' "Shrek 2" won the summer box office derby with domestic ticket sales of &#36;440 million. And Lions Gate's "Fahrenheit 9/11," though a resounding success, was the summer's ninth most successful movie with a domestic gross to date of &#36;119 million.
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The Hollywood hand-wringing of 2005 has been forgotten. After a dismal box-office year and gloomy prophecies about its future, the movie business has rebounded with a solid &#151; though far from spectacular &#151; summer season.
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Ticket sales at North American cinemas rose this summer, reversing last year's decline.
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LOS ANGELES  - Will moviegoers flood the multiplex for the new comedy "Evan Almighty," opening this weekend, or will the modern-day take on the Noah's ark tale face a box office drought? That's the question confronting Hollywood as it steers toward midsummer waters.
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Moviegoers, flocking to sequels, break the summertime box-office record - and buoy a sagging industry.
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Here is a chance to check out where your favourite movies stand in the box-office.