According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sin City proved an irresistible temptation for audiences as the highly stylized comic-book adaptation led the weekend boxoffice with an estimated $28.1 million debut.
Opening in second place was MGM's comedy Beauty Shop starring Queen Latifah. The spinoff of the Barbershop franchise took in $13.5 million for the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Since opening Wednesday, "Beauty Shop" had grossed about $17.3 million.
Sony's comedy Guess Who, the previous weekend's top-grossing movie, slipped to No. 3 with an estimated $13 million, lifting its 10-day total to about $41.3 million.
Overall, movie revenues slipped for the sixth straight weekend. The top 12 movies took in an estimated $98.3 million, down 14 percent from the same weekend last year, when Hellboy and Walking Tall opened on top of the box office.
The slump follows a healthy start to 2005 in which movie revenues had surged about 10 percent ahead of 2004's. Revenues now are running even with last year's at about $2 billion heading into Hollywood's busy season.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters follow. Final figures will be released Monday.
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