Cast member Kate Beckinsale (left) and her husband, director Len Wiseman, attend the world premiere of 'Underworld Evolution' in Los Angeles earlier this month. The movie topped the U.S. box office report at the weekend.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters):
ENGLISH ACTRESS Kate Beckinsale's new horror film Underworld: Evolution easily led the North American box office during its first weekend, while Golden Globes glory propelled Brokeback Mountain up the charts, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
Underworld: Evolution sold about US$27.6 million worth of tickets during its first three days, outpacing the US$21.8 million bow of its hit 2003 predecessor, Underworld. The films, both directed by Beckinsale's husband, Len Wiseman, were released by Sony Corp.'s Screen Gems.
The R-rated sequel centres on an ancient feud between vampires and werewolves. Sony said it would have been happy if the film had matched the debut of the first one. As expected for a gory tale featuring its comely star in tight black latex, the audience consisted mostly of young men, the studio said.
The Weinstein Co.'s animated fable Hoodwinked held steady at No. 2 with US$11.1 million in its second round, while last weekend's champ, Walt Disney Co.'s college basketball drama Glory Road fell to No. 3 with US$9.1 million. Also reporting US$9.1 million, but about US$35,000 less than Glory Road, was Paramount Pictures' Queen Latifah comedy Last Holiday.
Brokeback Mountain, the gay-cowboy romance that has emerged as the early Oscar front-runner, jumped four places to No. 5 with US$7.8 million in its seventh weekend. After the film won four Golden Globes last Monday, including best drama, distributor Focus Features almost doubled its theatre count to 1,196 outlets, still a modest figure compared to the 3,000-plus theatres each playing Underworld: Evolution and Hoodwinked.
Two new entries rounded out the top 10. Director Terrence Malick's Pocahontas epic The New World (New Line Cinema) earned a modest US$4.3 million from 811 theatres. End of the Spear (Every Tribe Entertainment), a fact-based story about the deaths of American missionaries in the Amazon rainforest during the 1950s, earned US$4.2 million from 1,162 theatres.
Although King Kong fell out of the top 10, dropping four places to No. 11 with US$4.1 million, Universal Pictures' ape remake did finally pass its US$207 million production budget. The total stands at US$209.8 million after six weekends.
Sony's Jim Carrey comedy Fun with Dick & Jane also celebrated a milestone, surpassing the century mark after a US$6.1 million weekend. Its tally stands at US$101.7 million after five weekends.
Twentieth Century Fox's Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, which won three Golden Globes, also passed the US$100 million mark after a US$3.1 million weekend. Its total rose to US$102.1 million after 10 weekends.
The Weinstein Co. is owned by former Miramax Films co-chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. Focus Features and Universal Pictures are units of NBC Universal, which is controlled by General Electric Co., New Line Cinema, is a unit of Time Warner Inc. Fox is a unit of News Corp.
