It was a quiet week at the box office as folks await Wednesday's Tom Cruise powered, CGI coated, Fanning-fest, War of the Worlds. Not witches, nor zombies, nor possessed Volkswagons were able to dethrone the Batman from his place at number one. Only Bewitched was able to rise above Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a movie headed into its 3rd week in theaters.

The only other semi-major theatrical release this weekend, Rize, krumped its way into theaters, spastically missing the top ten chart by two spots and a couple of million bucks. Frankly, I'm glad. While I haven't even seen Rize I can't help but feel that it's a sad day when a movie like that kicks something as great as Cinderella Man off the chart.

Next week War of the Worlds goes to bat against Star Wars, Batman Begins, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith for its ranking among opening weekend totals. Star Wars is all but unbeatable, but thanks to Batman's innoculated numbers (it took a hit by opening on a Wednesday instead of a Friday), the alien invasion will only need a $55 million dollar opening to take second place (beating out the Smiths' $50+ million).

Here's the catch: War of the Worlds will suffer the same fate as Batman Begins by opening on a Wednesday. Expect it to have made 40% of it's overall total on Wednesday and Thursday, numbers which obviously won't count, since this is the weekend box office. Nevertheless, attach Spielberg's name to a movie (Cruise's name isn't worth as much as it used to be) and you can expect to do well enough to beat out Brad and Angelina.

Looking at the long haul, numbers this week are still down from this time last year. Folks who are saying the reason for this year's downturn is due to a derth of good movies should note that White Chicks opened stronger this week in 2004 than just about everything new this week. That's saying something.

TOP TEN: June 24 - June 26, 2005

1. Batman Begins - $26,770,000 ($121,697,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

2. Bewitched * - $20,200,000 ($20,200,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

3. Mr. and Mrs. Smith - $16,750,000 ($125,438,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

4. Herbie: Fully Loaded * - $12,750,000 ($17,787,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

5. George A. Romero's Land of the Dead * - $10,233,000 ($10,233,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

6. Madagascar - $7,300,000 ($160,056,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

7. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - $6,250,000 ($358,606,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

8. The Longest Yard - $5,475,000 ($141,895,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

9. The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl (3D) - $3,425,000 ($30,469,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

10. Cinderella Man - $3,270,000 ($49,592,000 ) [CB REVIEW]

* Denotes new release.