Movies

It took a fake army platoon to do it, but The Dark Knight was finally taken down last weekend. Tropic Thunder, the Ben Stiller-directed tale of actors who get involved in real combat while shooting a war movie, took in $25.8 million in its first weekend, besting Batman by $9 million.

Wednesday has turned into the new Friday during August, and opening a film midweek has so far proved a smart move by studios. Tropic Thunder earned $11 million last week before Friday even got here, while Pineapple Express, another hump-day opener, made $18 million on its two pre-weekend days.

All of the new wide releases did reasonably well, so everyone gets a pass from the Squad this week.

Swami should be more careful spending your money.

Prediction: Tropic Thunder earns $45 million in its first five days.

Result: Overshot the total by about $9 million, but it did unseat Batman.

Prediction: Star Wars: The Clone Wars earns $21 million and the No. 2 spot.

Result: Not the numbers you're used to for a Star Wars film, $14.6 million and a third-place finish.

This weekend is traditionally one of the true dumping grounds. During the same frame last year, the highest-grossing new release was Mr. Bean's Holiday, and it came in at No. 4 with $9.9 million. So that doesn't bode well for the weekend's new releases.

Prediction: Death Race tops all new releases with $15 million.

So will Death Race's $15 million be enough to earn the top spot? If, again, looking at last year's totals for the same weekend is any indication, the odds are slim.

Prediction: Tropic Thunder remains on top with $17 million.

Stephen Becker

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