Witches, zombies, and love bugs failed to knock Batman Begins out of the number one spot at the North American box office during the 18th consecutive weekend when ticket sales were down from last year. The super hero actioner grossed $27.6M in its second weekend, according to final studio figures, to remain atop the charts falling a moderate 43% from its opening weekend. Given the comic book genre, the hold was impressive and gave Warner Bros. a cume of $122.5M after 12 days of release. The Christopher Nolan-directed film could find its way to $185-190M domestically. Overseas, Batman Begins also held up well grossing $27.9M from 85 markets to boost the international cume to $84.6M. Holdover markets dropped by an average of only 32%. The Caped Crusader's worldwide tally now stands at $207.1M after less than two weeks.

Universal's zombie thriller Land of the Dead debuted in fifth place with $10.2M. The George A. Romero-directed film averaged a commendable $4,545 from 2,249 theaters and appealed to the typical male horror crowd. According to studio data, 67% of the audience was under 25 and 62% was male. An alarming 22% drop from Friday to Saturday hints that the bulk of the fans rushed out early and that long-term prospects seem shaky, even for a fright flick. Dead carries a $15M production cost making it not too risky of an investment. Reviews were surprisingly positive for a zombie pic.

The top-grossing summer films followed. Madagascar placed sixth with $7.4M, off only 31%, for a $160.2M total for DreamWorks. Fox's Star Wars Episode III slipped 39% to $6.1M giving the Jedi adventure $358.5M to date. On Sunday, Revenge of the Sith climbed to number ten on the all-time domestic blockbusters chart surpassing Jurassic Park which grossed $357.1M back in 1993. Adam Sandler's The Longest Yard followed with $5.5M pushing Paramount's sum to $141.9M.

The Miramax kidpic The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D fell 48% in its third weekend to $3.5M. Universal's Russell Crowe film Cinderella Man punched up $3.4M, down 38%. Totals stand at $30.5M and $49.8M.

Lions Gate got off to a solid start for its inner city dancing documentary Rize which opened in 352 theaters grossing $1.6M for a $4,473 average. The R-rated film earned strong reviews.

Three smaller summer entries dropped out of the top ten over the weekend. Universal's comedy The Perfect Man tumbled 51% in its second weekend to $2.6M giving the mother-daughter pic only $10.9M in ten days. The Hilary Duff-Heather Locklear title should finish with a puny $13-15M. Fellow femme flick The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fell 51% to $1.5M. Warner Bros. has grossed a decent $34M and should conclude with about $37M. Paramount's remake misfire The Honeymooners crashed 62% to $1M for a miserable cume of $11.6M. Look for a $13M final.

The top ten films grossed $113.5M which was down 12% from last year when Fahrenheit 9/11 opened at number one with $23.9M; but up 5% from 2003 when Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle debuted in the top spot with $37.6M.

Compared to projections, Bewitched opened a couple of notches below my $24M forecast while Herbie: Fully Loaded debuted below my $18M three-day prediction. Land of the Dead and Rize both bowed very close to my respective projections of $11M and $2M.

Take this week's NEW Reader Survey on War of the Worlds. In last week's survey, readers were asked how the opening of Batman Begins compared to expectations. Of 2,462 responses, 40% said it was Better while 60% thought it was Worse.

For a movie review of Batman Begins and a game review of Cold Winter, visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Monday night for final figures and again on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when War of the Worlds and Rebound both open.