Despite conquering the weekend box office, even Batman couldn’t save Hollywood from decreased ticket sales for the 17th week in a row.

Batman Begins earned $46.9 million over the weekend according to early estimates but overall movie revenues are down 6.4 per cent compared to last year.

This may be because people would rather watch movies at home on DVD, VHS or pay-per-view than leave the house according to an Associated Press-AOL poll.

The dark prequel stars Christian Bale and the recently engaged Katie Holmes, with Christopher Nolan as the director. It debuted last Wednesday with $15 million bringing the five day total to $71 million. With a reported $150 million budget, Batman Begins is the most successful film so far in the franchise though rising ticket prices and the number of sites the movie played at aren’t factored in.

With $12,166 per site, the movie doesn’t look as successful compared to its predecessors.

The first Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader, opened in 1989 with $40.5 million, with $18,462 at 2194 sites. The sequel Batman Returns had a $45.6 million opening weekend in 1992 with $17,280 at 2644 sites.

Despite Batman Forever marking the decline of the franchise in the minds of most fans the film, the movie, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Val Kilmer, opened in 1995 with a high of $52.8 million, with $18,573 at 2,842 sites. The fourth (and critically slammed) installment, Batman and Robin, with George Clooney wearing the nippled bat suit, premiered in 1997 with $42.8 million, with $14,612 at 2934 sites. The failure of Batman and Robin almost put an end to the franchise.

Nevertheless Warner Bros. expects the film to finish the week with $85 million, enough for a sequel according to distribution boss Dan Fellman.

Outside of Gotham City, Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear’s The Perfect Man also debuted this week, but the romantic family comedy came in at seventh place with $5.5 million. Duff plays a daughter who creates an imaginary suitor for her mother (Locklear) who has been unlucky in love.

Dropping to second place is the much hyped Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring the “are they or aren’t they?” duo Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The action/adventure film seduced $27.3 million, making its two-week gross a slick $97.9 million.

Unfortunately other films in their second week aren’t doing as well. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D dropped about 53 per cent in its second week with $6.6 million bringing the total to $24 million. Even worse is The Honeymooners which earned just $2.5 million, falling 54 per cent from its lackluster debut bringing in a $9.4 million gross.

Madagascar and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith are still going strong raking in $11.1 and $9.7 million respectively.

The top 12 films grossed $128.4 million compared to $130.5 last year with Dodgeball: The True Underdog Story as the top movie.






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