Sherlock Holmes is facing his worst enemy: declining crowds at theaters as movie attendance dips to the lowest level in 16 years. Robert Downey Jr.’s sequel “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’’ debuted on top with a $40 million weekend, off 36 percent from the first installment’s $62.3 million opening two years ago, according to studio estimates. Family sequel “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked’’ opened at No. 2 with $23.5 million, about half the business the first two “Chipmunks’’ movies did on their debut weekends. “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol’’ with Tom Cruise got off to a healthy start at No. 3 with a $13 million weekend playing at huge-screen IMAX theaters and some other large-format cinemas. “Ghost Protocol’’ goes into general release Wednesday.
‘Sherlock Holmes’ tops box office
More Celebrity News
Jackson items sold
The contents of the home where Michael Jackson lived with his three children just before his death have sold for nearly $1 million at auction. Saturday’s auction brought in nearly triple the company’s pre-auction estimate of $200,000 to $400,000. Among the highlights: A kitchen chalkboard where Jackson’s children wrote “I love daddy,’’ which sold for $5,000, and an armoire upon which Jackson wrote a message to himself on the mirror that fetched $25,750. The headboard from the bed where Jackson died at age 50 was removed from the auction at the family’s request, but the rug that was beneath the bed sold for $15,360. The estimate had been $400 to $600.
Slaying investigated
Atlanta police are continuing to try to piece together what led to the slaying of rapper Slim Dunkin, who was gunned down Friday in a city music studio as he was preparing to record a video. Police said that no arrests had been made in the killing. Police said that the rapper, whose real name is Mario Hamilton, was fatally shot in the chest after an argument with another individual.
Singer falls at Met
Mezzo-soprano Wendy White has been hospitalized after falling about eight feet from a platform to the stage during a performance of Charles Gounod’s “Faust’’ at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. The Met Opera says White is in stable condition. White was performing the role of Marthe in Saturday’s performance. Met spokesman Peter Clark said in a statement that White fell as she entered backstage during Act III onto a platform that is connected to the scenery. White was taken by ambulance to the hospital. The performance resumed with Theodora Hanslowe substituting in the role of Marthe.