Adam and Drew's 'Dates' Still On Top

By Todd Peterson

Monday February 23, 2004 12:10 PM EST

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Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are taking their relationship to the next level. For the second weekend in a row, the stars of the love-struck comedy "50 First Dates" came out on top of the box office.

With challenges from four new films, Sandler's tale of romantic persistence proved it had staying power, taking in $21 million -- although it proved to be an overall poor weekend for ticket sales.

Among the new movies, "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," starring teen-queen Lindsay Lohan of "Freaky Friday" fame, finished in second place and grossed just over $9 million. It was followed by "Welcome to Mooseport," with Gene Hackman and Ray Romano in his big-screen debut, the teen comedy "Eurotrip," and Meg Ryan and Omar Epps in "Against the Ropes."

Despite all the new blood in theaters, box-office receipts were down 29 percent over the previous weekend and down 21 percent over the same weekend in 2003, Reuters reports.

"The level of audience disinterest is pretty stunning," Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks box-office sales, tells the Associated Press. "(Audiences) just kind of checked out right now." Even "50 First Dates," in the top spot, slid to just over 50 percent of its opening weekend's receipts. But, "if not for (that film)," Dergarabedian said, "this would be an abysmal weekend."

Here is a list of the top 10 movies, as compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. "50 First Dates," $21 million
2. "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," $9.2 million
3. "Miracle," $8 million
4. "Welcome to Mooseport," $7 million
5. "Eurotrip," $6.6 million
6. "Barbershop 2: Back in Business," $6.3 million
7. "Mystic River," $3.1 million
8. "Against the Ropes," $3 million
9. "The Butterfly Effect," $2.9 million
10. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $2.8 million