Harrison Ford scored his first number one opening in eight years with the much-hyped adventure sequel Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which dominated moviegoing over the Memorial Day holiday weekend grossing more than all other films in the marketplace combined. But despite the explosive start for the long-awaited return of Indy, the rest of the box office slumped with few strong performances from supporting players. Overall it was the slowest Memorial Day weekend in five years.

19 years after the last installment, the Indiana Jones franchise proved that it was still relevant in today's entertainment world as Crystal Skull opened to a stunning $126M over the four-day Friday-to-Monday holiday period, according to estimates. The Friday-to-Sunday portion accounted for $101M and since the Paramount release's Thursday launch the cume has soared to $151.1M in five days. Playing in 4,260 locations, the PG-13 pic averaged a sensational $23,709 over three days and $29,587 over four days.

The Friday-to-Sunday figure ranks as the tenth highest debut in box office history while the cume is the sixth best five-day start ever. The only other films to gross more in their first five days of release were Star Wars Episode III ($172.8M, Thu-Mon), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($169.5M, Fri-Tue), Spider-Man 3 ($169.4M, Fri-Tue), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ($153M, Thu previews-Mon), and Spider-Man 2 ($152.4M, Wed-Sun). Not bad company. The $185M-budgeted Kingdom also enjoyed the second largest Memorial Day weekend opening ever after last year's At World's End which looted $139.8M over its official Friday-to-Monday period.

Crystal Skull marked the reunion of Harrison Ford with director Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas while newcomers like Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett joined the cast for this fourth escapade. Reviews were mixed but generally positive. The five-day opening began with $25M on Thursday. Friday saw a 24% increase to $31M, Saturday jumped another 19% to $37M, Sunday dipped by 11% to $33M, and the studio is estimating a 24% Monday decline to $25M.

The new Indiana Jones adventure also attacked multiplexes around the world and grossed a stellar $160M internationally since its first launches on Wednesday. Indy ranked number one in all 61 territories it opened in and brought its global cume to $311M in less than one week of play.

Last week's top film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian tumbled in its second weekend of release to an estimated $28.6M over four days as the Friday-to-Sunday portion collapsed by a horrific 58%. It was the worst gross in nine years for the second place film over Memorial Day weekend. In 1999, Notting Hill claimed that spot with $27.7M over four days behind chart-topper Star Wars Episode I. However, that amount would be about $38M at today's prices so the new Narnia still sold fewer tickets.

Caspian boosted its 11-day total to $96.7M and looks as if it will top out at $140-150M from North America or about half of the $291.7M that The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe grossed. This is a major stumble for Disney which has been developing Narnia as a long-term franchise meant to keep revenue flowing in for several years to come.

The year's top-grossing smash Iron Man finished its fourth weekend in third with a strong $25.7M over four days, according to estimates, and watched its cume skyrocket to $257.8M. The three-day portion dropped by just 37%. Paramount and Marvel continued to benefit from solid word-of-mouth as the super hero flick raced up to number 40 on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters surpassing I Am Legend's $256.4M. With both Iron Man and Indiana Jones rocking the holiday box office, Paramount dominated the multiplexes accounting for a whopping 72% of the entire top ten. The Robert Downey Jr. sensation is a virtual lock to join the $300M club now.

Moviegoers looking for a comedy over the long weekend found it in the Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher pic What Happens in Vegas which took in an estimated $11.2M over four days. Meanwhile Speed Racer continued to crash and burn falling to an estimated $5.2M. Each film was in its third weekend. Totals stand at a robust $56.4M for the Fox hit and a miserable $37.4M for the pricey Warner Bros. entry.

Both Speed Racer and Prince Caspian were expected to add muscular numbers to the May box office but moviegoers have not been too impressed. The weaker-than-expected openings and the steep declines have led to a lack of depth in the marketplace as the Memorial Day frame usually sees strong contributions from a number of different films.

Universal's pregnancy comedy Baby Mama held up well again grossing an estimated $4.2M in four days boosting the overall take to $53M. Also laughing up the same estimated amount was the romantic comedy Made of Honor raising Sony's cume to $40M.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was still remembered by audiences in its sixth frame taking in an estimated $2.2M for a $58.7M total for Universal. New Line's Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay followed with an estimated $1.2M in its fifth outing for a $36.2M sum. Rounding out the top ten was the indie hit The Visitor with an estimated $917,000 lifting the cume to $4.6M.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $209.4M over four days which was down 14% from last year when Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opened in the top spot with $139.8M; and down 9% from 2006 when X-Men: The Last Stand debuted at number one with $102.8M.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com