Actuals Are In...

With a surprising $20.4 million, Life edged out Lost in Space by about $150,000 to be the second largest April opening weekend ever (behind The Matrix of course). Timing turns out to have been perfect, as it was the first picture in a long time to appeal to the neglected urban demographic. It also was the only new wide release of the week. The star power of Murphy and Lawrence didn't hurt either. These factors ended up being more than enough to overcome an ad campaign that made it look like just another unfunny Murphy vehicle. I suspect that it is just that, and a precipitous drop is in store for next week.

The Matrix racked up another $17.9 million for a total of $98.9 million. It should reach $100 million by the end of today.

Goodbye Lover only managed a pathetic $1 million. To be fair though, Warner Bros. just dumped it onto 865 screens and with very little advertising.

Kate Winslet's return was met with little fanfare as Hideous Kinky earned $82,431 from 10 screens. The picture's $8,231 per screen average was modest and not very promising by limited release standards.

In general, the rest of the pictures enjoyed relatively small declines. Perhaps, with the lack of new releases, audiences took this opportunity to catch up on the ones they missed.

For more results, click on Weekend Box Office.