The box office slump continues for the 18th week in a row, the longest in recorded history.

“Batman Begins” remained at the top for the second straight weekend with $26.8 million but revenues for the top 12 movies were still 16 per cent lower than last year when Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11″ opened.

“Bewitched” starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in a movie about the remake of the ’60s sitcom debuted in second place with $20.2 million while the other two new releases weren’t as successful.

“Herbie: Fully Loaded” with Lindsay Lohan as the driver of the Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, came in fourth place with $12.75 million bringing its total to $17.8 million since its debut Wednesday.

Zombie flick “George Romero’s Land of the Dead,” the fourth installment since the ’60s cult classic “Night of the Living Dead” earned $10.2 million at fifth place.

Theatre revenues declined seven per cent compared to last year. When increases in ticket prices are put into consideration, revenues are down 10 per cent according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

If this trend continues, it’ll be the third straight year in declining admissions and it’ll mark the lowest ticket sales since the mid ’90s.

“We’re working with a pretty huge deficit and it’ll take a lot of business to overcome. Just breaking the slump is not enough. We would have to reverse the trend and see attendance on a big uptick,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations.

Although the upcoming July 4th weekend is the time when big blockbusters debut, Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” starring Tom Cruise may have a tough time trying to out do last year’s “Spider-Man 2″ which set a new record for that weekend with $180 million in its first six days.






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