Universal's Noah-influenced comedy, EVAN ALMIGHTY (with vfx from ILM and Rhythm & Hues), lead the box office with $31.1M in its debut for the weekend June 24, 2007. Another newcomer, the chilling 1408 from MGM/Weinstein Co., followed in second place with $20.6M. Last weekâs leader, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (with vfx by Weta Digital, SOHO VFX, Hydraulx, Giant Killer Robots, Hammerhead, The Orphanage, Frantic Films, Lola Visual Effects, Digiscope and Image Engine), finished third for Fox with $20M and a cume of $97.4M. Following in fourth was Warner Bros.' OCEAN'S THIRTEEN with $11.4M and $91M. Fifth place went to Universal's KNOCKED UP with $10.9M and $109.3M. Dropping to sixth was PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END (with more cutting edge vfx from ILM), which captured another $7.2M for Buena Vista for a cume of $287M. Coming in seventh was SURF'S UP from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation with $6.5M and $47.1M. The eighth place finisher was SHREK THE THIRD from Paramount/DreamWorks, which brought home $5.6M and a cume of $307.8M. Warner Bros.' NANCY DREW took ninth with $4.3M for a tally of $16M. Paramount Vantage's A MIGHTY HEART came in 10th with $3.9M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
