By Brian Fuson

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The box office in North America was down for the fourth consecutive weekend as the total gross for the 115 films tracked by The Hollywood Reporter came to $98.5 million -- off nearly 11% from the comparable session in 2002. That said, it was an improvement from the previous three weekends, all of which noted comparable year-to-year declines in the 22%-28% range.

Continuing in that line of comparative analysis, things should pick up this coming weekend when Sony's "Anger Management" is the sole new wide release. The Revolution Studios-produced comedy, starring Adam Sandler (news) and Jack Nicholson (news), is tracking well and should help lead the weekend to a strong overall performance. The comparable frame in 2002 was relatively weak, with a box office total of $96.7 million, and the top-grossing film was Paramount's "Changing Lanes" ($17.1 million).

Amidst three new wide releases, 20th Century Fox's "Phone Booth" rang up $15 million on its debut to garner the top spot at the box office. The Colin Farrell (news) starrer, helmed by Joel Schumacher, is a thriller about a man trapped in a phone booth by a sniper. Due to the film's subject matter, which is similar to real-life sniper attacks on the East Coast last year, the release date was pushed back from an original late-2002 date.

But while the R-rated thriller topped the box office charts, of the weekend's three new wide releases, "Phone Booth" scored the lowest with moviegoers in exit polls as an unexceptional 70% gave the film positive marks, according to CinemaScore.com. It was fairly even between males and females, skewing slightly toward the former with 53%. "Phone Booth" called in a slightly younger crowd as 61% were under 35 years of age. The demographic groups that gave the film the higher marks were young and male.

Warner Bros. Pictures' "What a Girl Wants" arrived in the second spot, taking in $11.4 million on its opening weekend. The PG-rated film, starring Amanda Bynes (news) and Colin Firth (news), generated the highest satisfaction among moviegoers of the session's three new wide releases as a stellar 96% gave the film a favorable score, according to CinemaScore.com.

It was an overwhelmingly female audience as a huge 82% comprised that group, and young as a solid 53% were under 18 years of age. Dennie Gordon directed the comedy, about a girl who is looking for her long lost British father in London. A relatively slim 29% were 35 and older. The film's subject matter was the biggest draw, as cited by 41% of those polled.

New Line's "A Man Apart" was the frame's only other wide release. The Vin Diesel (news) starrer, helmed by Gary F. Gray, debuted in the third slot with $11 million. The actioner has a chance to hold onto some of its audience in the weeks ahead as a solid 92% rated the film positively, according to CinemaScore.com.

"A Man Apart" pulled in slightly more males than females, with 53%, and covered a wide range of age groups as 44% were under 25 years of age, 27% were 25 to 34, and 29% were 35 and older. The main draw by far for the R-rated film was Diesel, as noted by 74% of respondents.

DreamWorks' "Head of State," the previous weekend's box office champ, was voted into the fourth spot on its second term as the Chris Rock (news)-Bernie Mac (news) starrer picked up $8.6 million, off 36% in its sophomore frame. The comedy has gleaned $25.2 million in 10 days.

The biggest comedy of the year to date, Buena Vista's "Bringing Down the House," was in the fifth slot on its fifth weekend as the Steve Martin (news)-Queen Latifah starrer brought in $8.3 million, upping its total to $111.1 million after 31 days in release.

Two films that had pedestrian debuts a week ago landed in the sixth and seventh slots. Paramount's "The Core" drilled $6.2 million on its second weekend, down a steep 49% from its debut. The total after 10 days is $20.8 million, while Sony's "Basic" marched in with $5.4 million, off a precipitous 53% from its opening, moving its total to $20 million.

Reuters/VNU

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the April 4-6 weekend, according to studio estimates collected on Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be issued on Monday.

1 (*) Phone Booth ............... $15.0 million

2 (*) What A Girl Wants ......... $12.1 million

3 (*) A Man Apart ............... $11.2 million

4 (1) Head of State ............. $ 8.8 million

5 (2) Bringing Down the House ... $ 8.5 million

6 (3) The Core .................. $ 6.3 million

7 (4) Basic ..................... $ 5.4 million

8 (5) Chicago ................... $ 5.3 million

9 (7) Agent Cody Banks .......... $ 3.7 million

10 (8) Piglet's Big Movie ........ $ 3.0 million

NOTE: Last weekend's ranking in parenthesis. "*" = new release.

TOTALS TO DATE:

Chicago ........................ $152.2 million

Bringing Down the House ........ $111.3 million

Agent Cody Banks ............... $ 40.1 million

Head of State .................. $ 25.3 million

The Core ....................... $ 20.9 million

Basic .......................... $ 20.0 million

Piglet's Big Movie ............. $ 17.0 million

Phone Booth .................... $ 15.0 million

What A Girl Wants .............. $ 12.1 million

A Man Apart .................... $ 11.2 million

"Phone Booth" was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc .

"What A Girl Wants" was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, and "A Man Apart" by New Line Cinema, both units of AOL Time Warner Inc .

"Head of State" was released by DreamWorks SKG, which is privately held.

"Bringing Down the House" was released by Touchstone Pictures, "Chicago" by Miramax Films, and "Piglet's Big Movie" by Walt Disney Pictures, all units of Walt Disney Co .

"The Core" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc .

"Basic" was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp (news - web sites) .

"Agent Cody Banks" was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc .

John L.:  Slow week, Colin Farrell is now the prince of Hollywood.  Oh joy.