RV hauls in 16 million dollars while 9/11 movie does well

Apr 30, 2006, 23:42 GMT

Photo courtesy Kean University Child Care & Development Center

New York - The road-trip comedy 'RV' - short for recreational vehicle - with actor Robin Williams in the driver's seat raced to the top spot in the weekend box-office rankings for North America, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

The new release grossed 16.4 million dollars in ticket sales for the Friday-Sunday period.

Williams plays a father who takes his family on a driving tour through the Western United States in an RV, the American abbreviation for a caravan. Cheryl Hines and Jeff Daniels co-star.

'RV' was one of a trio of new releases that dominated the top of the three-day box-office chart.

After a few television productions to dramatize stories around the infamous terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 'United 93' became the first cinematic release about that day with a reasonably strong opening weekend.

Despite weeks of controversy about the film and its topic, which remains highly sensitive for many Americans, it sold 11.6 million dollars in tickets to rank second for the weekend. Shown on far fewer screens than the other new releases, 'United 93' had easily the best average revenue per screen.

It tells the story of passenger on one of the four doomed September 11 airliners who mutiny against the suicide hijackers who had seized control of the cockpit. The plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field, preventing a suspected strike against the US Capitol building in Washington.

Close behind in box-office gross was 'Stick It', a gymnastics-themed sports comedy, with 11.3 million dollars, good for third place.

Another new release, 'Akeelah and the Bee', had 6.25 million dollars in revenue, putting it in eighth place. Laurence Fishburne stars as the mentor of a spelling-bee champion played by Keke Palmer. Angela Bassett plays the girl's mother.