It was closer than expected in the end, but America's favorite Pope-rescuing Harvard symbologist still outmuscled the Enterprise crew as the weekend's top box-office draw. And with Angels & Demons' supremacy facing a lethal threat from the homicidal machines and anthropomorphic museum pieces bearing down on Memorial Day, let's savor its short-lived triumph while we can. More after the jump.
1. Angels & Demons
Gross: $48,000,000 (new)
Screens: 3,527 (PSA: $13,609)
Weeks: 1 (Change: n/a)
A lack of Da Vinci Code-esque controversy and close competition from Star Trek kept Robert Langdon's latest Vatican City exploits from achieving his dizzying 2006 heights. While pleased, Sony will no doubt have a closer look at its pseudo-spiritual franchise in the months ahead, visiting such third-installment options as saving the Catholic Church in 3-D, recruiting Brett Ratner to direct, and/or an origin story about young Langdon's race against time to save the Easter Bunny during a epic, bloody egg hunt in the Boston suburbs.
2. Star Trek
Gross: $43,000,000 (cume: $147,611,000)
Screens: 3,860 (PSA: $11,140)
Weeks: 2 (Change: -42.8%)
Despite holding fast to the number-two spot, Star Trek nevertheless experienced the foreseeable second-weekend drop that Hollywood has long come to expect from all Tyler Perry films.
3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Gross: $14,800,000 (cume: $151,091,000)
Screens: 3,892 (PSA: $3,803)
Weeks: 3 (Change: -44%)
The blockbuster's continued success -- $275 million globally to date -- has prompted speculation that Fox may yet leak a workprint of Night at the Museum 2 online by this time tomorrow, with the hopes that Robin Williams's unfinished CGI facial contortions will motivate audiences to theaters en masse for a more fully rendered glimpse of Shawn Levy's directorial vision. Anything to gain an edge on Terminator: Salvation.
4. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Gross: $6,860,000 (cume: $40,062,000)
Screens: 3,150 (PSA: $2,178)
Weeks: 3 (Change: 33.1%)
The unrelenting demand for Matthew McConaughey's romcom prowess can only mean one thing -- Tiptoes, finally coming soon to a theater near you.
5. Obsessed
Gross: $4,550,000 (cume: $62,571,000)
Screens: 2,634 (PSA: $1,727)
Weeks: 4 (Change: -30.6%)
With its fourth consecutive week in the Top 5, the sleeper phenomenon has officially launched Ali Larter on to the short list of potential Star Trek sequel villians. Borg Queen, anyone? Or, better yet, how about Khan? Developing...
[Data: Box Office Mojo]