'SITH' LEADS CHARGE TRIO OF FILMS SCORE NEAR-RECORD HOLIDAY.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Hollywood banked its second-highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend on record with the top three films - ``Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,'' the animated ``Madagascar'' and the remake of ``The Longest Yard''- each grossing more than $60 million.

``Sith'' held on to first place in its second week and became the fastest movie in history to reach the $250 million mark while ``Yard'' gave star Adam Sandler his biggest opening ever, according to studio estimates Monday.

``Each film had its own demographic, so to speak,'' said Wayne Lewellen, head of distribution for Paramount Pictures, which released ``Yard.''

But even the stellar performance by this trio of films was not enough to put an end to the movie industry's now-14-week streak of ticket sales lagging behind 2004 totals.

The top 12 films earned 5.5 percent less than last year's record-setting Memorial Day weekend slate that was led by the monster hit ``Shrek 2'' ($95.6 million) and the debut of the blockbuster ``The Day After Tomorrow'' ($85.8 million).

``The slump is just something that is taking longer to get out of than we initially thought,'' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``But a weekend like this definitely gives me hope that people want to go to the movies.''

``Sith'' continued to amaze during its second weekend as it held on to the top spot with an estimated four-day gross of $70.7 million, which brought its cumulative domestic gross up to a stupendous $271.2 million.

By crossing the $250 million mark Sunday, its 11th day in theaters, ``Sith'' bested the 12 days it took ``Spider-Man 2'' to reach $250 million last summer.

The sixth and final movie in the ``Star Wars'' franchise had also earned more than $230 million as of Sunday in foreign countries and territories for an international gross of $504.4 million, according to distributor 20th Century Fox.

``That's half a billion dollars,'' said Bruce Snyder, Fox's president of distribution. ``That's an amazing, amazing number.''

Since its May 19 release, ``Sith'' has also set records for biggest opening day and biggest single day at the box office ($50 million) and the biggest four-day opening in history ($158.4 million), as well as several other industry bests.

With ``Sith'' still ruling the megaplex, ``Madagascar'' and ``Yard'' slugged it out for second place and estimates have the films separated by only $1 million with the animated film projected to finish slightly ahead when final numbers are released today.

Released by DreamWorks Animation and featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and others, ``Madagascar'' clicked with the family audience and took in an estimated $61 million.

``The good news for 'Madagascar' is that more of its core audience becomes available as schools close for the summer over the next few weeks,'' said DreamWorks distribution head Jim Tharp.

Paramount Pictures' ``Yard,'' starring Sandler and Rock, grossed an estimated $60 million over the four days. Its three-day total of $48 million surpassed the $42 million taken in by Sandler's previous top opener, ``Anger Management.''

``Adam Sandler and Chris Rock are big draws and both guys really worked hard doing publicity and so forth,'' Lewellen said.

While ``Yard'' attracted young males and ``Madagascar'' the family crowd, the Jane Fonda-Jennifer Lopez comedy ``Monster-in-Law'' continued to be effective counterprogramming as it finished a solid fourth with an estimated gross of $11 million.

The New Line Cinema release, Fonda's first feature film in 15 years, has now earned $60.7 million in ticket sales since its debut three weeks ago.

At The Grove in Los Angeles, business was brisk Sunday evening with ``Sith,'' ``Madagascar'' and ``Yard'' the most popular choices while a 7:30 p.m. sneak-peek screening of the upcoming Russell Crowe-Renee Zellweger film ``Cinderella Man'' was a quick sellout.

With seats for some of the films a commodity, some moviegoers had to be flexible.

```Star Wars' was sold out so half of our group went to see `The Longest Yard,''' said Audrey Hensley, 43, who had also seen ``Madagascar'' with her two children the day before.

``I wish I could start going to grown-up movies again,'' Hensley said, sighing.

Jessica Henderson, 16, was also among those walking out of a late afternoon screening of ``Sith,'' her third movie in three days. The high school junior began Friday with ``Madagascar'' followed Saturday by ``The Longest Yard.''

``I really liked 'Star Wars' because everything fell into place,'' Henderson said. ``It's been a good weekend.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

TOP MOVIES

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released today.

1. ``Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,'' $70.75 million.

2. ``Madagascar,'' $61 million.

3. ``The Longest Yard,'' $60 million.

4. ``Monster-in-Law,'' $11.1 million.

5. ``Kicking & Screaming,'' $6.6 million.

6. ``Crash,'' $6 million.

7. ``The Interpreter,'' $2.6 million.

8. ``Unleashed,'' $2.3 million.

9. ``Kingdom of Heaven,'' $2.2 million.

10. ``House of Wax,'' $1.6 million.

- Associated Press 

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TOP MOVIES (see text)