JASON AND FREDDY KILL
AT THE BOX OFFICE

Take two long-running slasher franchises, pit the lead killers against each other and rake in the dough. Seems simple enough, but Freddy Vs. Jason, which took #1 at the box office this weekend was nearly a decade in the making. The wait paid off, as the New Line Cinema flick outperformed expectations, earning $36.4 million its opening weekend.

The week’s other two major openings were Kevin Costner’s Western, Open Range, and Brittany Murphy’s Uptown Girls, about an heiress who goes broke, becomes a nanny, and learns an important lesson. Open Range opened at #3 with $14.1 million, while Uptown Girls, did $11.2 million on its way to #5.

The rest of the Top 10: #2 S.W.A.T. ($18.6m); #4 Freaky Friday ($13.1m); #6 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($8.5m); #7 American Wedding ($8.16m); #8 Seabiscuit ($8.1m); #9 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over ($5.2m); #10. Bad Boys II ($3.2m).