Moviegoers help themselves to seconds

In a summer packed with $100 million films, a series of sequels pushed US box office takings to a record high.

13:52 07 September 2004

In a summer packed with $100 million films, a series of sequels pushed US box office takings to a record high.

The second helpings of Spider-Man, Shrek and the Bourne Identity all wowed fans - while the third instalment of the Harry Potter franchise was widely held to be the best so far.

And all of these heavily contributed to American cinemagoers spending close to $4 billion (2.25 billion) on tickets.

However, there have also been a number of flops in a summer when more than ten films costing in the region of $100 million to make came out.

Between May and September Catwoman, Around the World in 80 Days, Thunderbirds and King Arthur all failed to make big impressions on the box office.

But these damp squibs failed to take the shine off the summer's big winners.

Shrek 2 took $436 million - making it the third highest grossing film of all time, although well short of current leader Titanic.

Spider-Man 2 did not quite achieve the success of the original film - but after grossing $368 million it is still the ninth biggest film in American history.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban also did not do the same amount of business as its franchise predecessors - but still made $248 million.

The summer top ten

1 - Shrek 2, $436.5 million
2 - Spider-Man 2, $367.8 million
3 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, $247.6 million
4 - The Day After Tomorrow, $186.2 million
5 - The Bourne Supremacy, $157.7 million
6 - I, Robot, $140.5 million
7 - Troy, $133.2 million
8 - Van Helsing, $120 million
9 - Fahrenheit 9/11, $117.5 million
10 - Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, $113.3 million