Vampire Scares Up Box Office
"Underworld," the movie about a vampires vs. werewolves blood feud, put the bite on moviegoers, debuting as the top weekend movie with $22 million.
Starring Kate Beckinsale as a vampire warrior, it buried an onslaught of new movies. The gospel romance with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce Knowles, "The Fighting Temptations," opened in second place with $13.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Secondhand Lions," starring Robert Duvall, Michael Caine and Haley Joel Osment in the coming-of-age story of a teen and his oddball great-uncles, premiered at No. 3 with $12.9 million.
The previous weekend's top movie, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," fell to fourth place with $11.5 million, pushing its 10-day total to $41.4 million.
The thriller "Cold Creek Manor," with Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone as new homeowners terrorized by the house's former occupant, debuted at No. 5 with $8.3 million.
Woody Allen's box-office slump continued as his romantic comedy "Anything Else" opened well out of the top 10 with $1.7 million, the weakest debut among his four films for distributor DreamWorks.
Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, expanded from its limited debut a week earlier and broke into the top 10 with $2.8 million.
Entertainment contributor Jess Cagle reports, "Lost in Translation" has received outstanding reviews and averaged incredible numbers per screen in its limited release thus far.
During its first week, the film opened on only 23 screens, but averaged nearly $40,000 per screen. This weekend, it averaged $15,337 per screen on 183 screens. (In contrast, this weekend's top film, "Underworld," averaged $7,547 per screen)
A reissue of Brian De Palma's 1983 gangster epic "Scarface" debuted strongly with $268,000 in 13 theaters. A new DVD version of "Scarface," which stars Al Pacino, hits stores next week.
Overall ticket sales were unusually strong for September, typically a quiet time for Hollywood. The top 12 movies took in $94 million, up 37 percent from the same weekend a year ago.
"People seem to be in the mood for movies," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
"Studios are creating a new strong period at the box office by taking a chance and putting all these films out in what is not known as a big moviegoing time."
"Underworld" was the third horror movie to debut at No. 1 in the last month, following "Freddy vs. Jason" and "Jeepers Creepers 2." Critics generally slammed "Underworld," but the horror genre has a loyal audience unswayed by bad reviews.
Cagle says, "I'm surprised it made $22 million. That's a lot. This was a big Internet-market marketing campaign. Very successful by Sony screen division."
"It's certainly a fun, audience-pleasing movie," said Jeff Blake, vice chairman at Sony Pictures, whose Screen Gems banner released "Underworld." "Vampires vs. werewolves was kind of the
ultimate high-concept idea."
"Underworld" was Sony's eighth No. 1 debut of the year, tying a record set by Warner Bros. in 1999 and 2001, Dergarabedian said.
"Anything Else," starring Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci, capped a course of diminishing returns for Allen at DreamWorks.
Allen's "Small Time Crooks" debuted with $3.9 million in 2000, "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" opened with $2.5 million in 2001, and last year's "Hollywood Ending" premiered with $2 million.
The new movie was Allen's last with DreamWorks. He is shooting his next film for Fox Searchlight.
The following are the numbers according to Hollywood.com:
- "Underworld," $22 million
- "The Fighting Temptations," $13.2 million.
- "Secondhand Lions," $12.9 million
- "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," $11.5 million
- "Cold Creek Manor," $8.3 million
- "Matchstick Men," $7.8 million
- "Cabin Fever," $3.9 million
- "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," $3.8 million
- "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,"
$3.5 million - "Lost in Translation," $2.8 million