Chinese Studies - 'Yuma' guns down box office competition

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ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






'Yuma' guns down box office competition


(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-10 09:36





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This photo released by Lionsgate shows actors, from left, Alan Tudyk as
Doc Potter, Christian Bale as Dan Evans, Russell Crowe as Ben Wade, Peter
Fonda as Byron McElroy and Lennie Loftin as Glen Hollander in a scene
from '3:10 to Yuma.'[AP]

The critically acclaimed Western "3:10 to Yuma" outgunned the fright fest
"Halloween" to become the weekend's top box office draw.

The remake from Lionsgate took in $14.1 million from Friday through
Sunday according to studio estimates. While the film did not produce huge
numbers, it performed well for a genre picture on a historically slow
weekend.

"We ended the summer on a strong note and we're starting off the fall in
typical fashion," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office
tracker Media By Numbers. "It wasn't a huge weekend, but it was better
than the same weekend in 2006."

This weekend's top 12 films took in 22.5 percent more than last year's
post Labor Day crop, making the ninth straight weekend the box office has
exceeded 2006 results.

The performance of "3:10 to Yuma," which paired Russell Crowe and
Christian Bale, thrilled Lionsgate executives, who chose this weekend to
position the film for Oscar consideration.

"We wanted to be the first Western into the marketplace this fall, we
wanted to be the first prestige film this fall and we wanted to set
ourselves up as the first award-caliber picture of the fall and I think
we accomplished all of those goals," president of Lionsgate theatrical
films Tom Ortenberg said.

Westerns, once a Hollywood staple, are a tough sell these days. The last
critically acclaimed film of note in that genre was 1992's "Unforgiven,"
starring Clint Eastwood.

This fall will see two Westerns contending both for box office and awards
buzz. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,"
starring Brad Pitt, opens Sept. 21.

Lionsgate picked the weekend after Labor Day to separate its film from
the slew of fall Oscar contenders that will be released starting in the
next few weeks. Topping the box office gives the film legitimacy with
awards voters, Ortenberg said.

"The genre films that have gone on to win best picture 鈥� 'Gladiator,'
'Braveheart,' 'Unforgiven' 鈥� all of them were commercial successes
before they were award winners," he said. "Voters want to see a level of
commercial success before they grant you awards success."

The weekend's other high profile opener, "Shoot 'Em Up," starring Clive
Owen took in only $5.5 million, but it was good enough to finish sixth in
an otherwise slow movie weekend.

The documentary about the Apollo space program, "In the Shadow of the
Moon," did well in limited release. The movie, from ThinkFilm, took in
$41,200 in four theaters for a per-screen average of $10,300.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian
theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be
released Monday.

1. "3:10 to Yuma," $14.1 million

2. "Halloween," $10 million.

3. "Superbad," $8 million.

4. "Balls of Fury," $5.7 million.

5. "The Bourne Ultimatum," $5.5 million.

6. "Shoot 'Em Up," $5.5 million.

7. "Rush Hour 3," $5.3 million.

8. "Mr. Bean's Holiday," $3.4 million.

9. "The Nanny Diaries," $3.3 million.

10. "Hairspray," $2 million.

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