Monday's Box-Office Rankings Today

Summer box office has been throttling forward at an impressive clip (and even the numbers squabbles between Sony and Disney have been entertaining). But this weekend should feel something like a hands-on-knees breather as not one single big-budget sequel is set for release. And none of the new movies out today are in more than 3000 theaters, compared to the other May blockbusters, which were in 4000 plus. The Hollywood Reporter is predicting that Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will take the top slot, followed by Paramount/DW's Shrek the Third. Universal's Knocked Up, from Judd Apatow (40-Year-Old Virgin) will likely place third, followed by Sony's Spider-Man 3.

40-Year-Old Virgin opened to $21.4 million back in 2005 and became a sleeper hit, earning $109.2 million in its theatrical run, a sizable take considering its R-rating. Industry observers think Knocked Up, also rated R, will open in the high teens (although EW has it coming in second at $29 million). The movie is getting excellent reviews (the NY Times calls it an "instant classic") and has a 92% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It stars Seth Rogen (who also appeared in Apatow's Virgin) and Katherine Heigl (from ABC's Grey's Anatomy), who plays an ambitious entertainment journalist who becomes pregnant after a drunken one-night stand with Rogan's lovable slacker.

[Photo: Heigl and Rogan in Knocked Up. By Everett Collection]