It may have seen a 56-percent drop in ticket sales from last weekend, but Warner Bros.’ 300 nevertheless remained far ahead of its rivals at the box office in its second weekend with an estimated take of $31.2 million. The biker comedy Wild Hogs remained in second place, dropping only 32 percent, as it raked in about $18.8 million and crossed the $100-million mark in its third weekend. [b](There have been numerous reports that teens have been buying tickets for the PG-13-rated Hogs, then sneaking in to see the R-rated 300.)[/b] [Sandra Bullock’s Premonition debuted in third place with around $18 million, while the horror film Dead Silence, which was not screened for critics, opened in fourth place with $7.8 million. But the Chris Rock romantic comedy I Think I Love My Wife tanked in its opening weekend, earning only $5.7 million. And Paramount’s Zodiac, the highly touted and well-reviewed thriller, sank to eighth place in its third weekend, taking in only $3 million. In limited release, Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley, last year’s Cannes Film Festival winner about two brothers on opposites sides or the 1920s’ civil war in Ireland, opened strongly in nine theaters with $75,311. Overall, despite horrendous weather conditions in some parts of the country and competition from the NCAA basketball tournament on TV, the box office was up a remarkable 10.5 percent over the comparable weekend a year ago, with the top-twelve films taking in an estimated $102.4 million.
The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. 300, $31.2 million; 2. Wild Hogs, $18.8 million; 3. Premonition, $18 million; 4. Dead Silence, $7.8 million; 5. I Think I Love My Wife, $5.7 million; 6. Bridge to Terabithia, $5.1 million; 7. Ghost Rider, $4 million; 8. Zodiac, $3.1 million; 9. Norbit, $2.7 million; 10. Music and Lyrics, $2.2 million.