Cinefantastique Online

Hoping to stretch the Memorial Weekend even longer, INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL opened a day early – on Thursday instead of Friday – earning $25-million in 4,260 U.S theatres. The impressive number put it as the fourth biggest Thursday opener ever, after STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH, THE MATRIX RELOADED, and STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES.

The film simultaneously opened worldwide, posting strong numbers in France and Belgium, where it grossed $2.2-million on Wednesday.

UPDATE (5/26/08): The fourth INDIANA JONES film made approximately $101-million from Friday through Sunday, for a total of $126-million counting tickets sales from Thursday’s early release. That puts the film just behind PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END for biggest Memorial Day opening. (For comparison purposes, one should not that PIRATES had only limited theatrical preivews on Thursday.) Paramount expects that KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL will add another $25-million on Monday, thanks to the extended weekend.