Kale Brecht (SHIA LABEOUF, left) is led away from some police activity by his mom, Julie (CARRIE-ANNE MOSS), who struggles to care for him after his father's death. -Contributed photos LOS ANGELES (AP):
Movie-goers put the Peeping Tom thriller Disturbia under strong surveillance as the film took in US$23 million (?€17 million) to debut at the top of the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Starring Shia LaBeouf as a housebound teenager who suspects a neighbour (David Morse) of murder, Disturbia continued a solid year for DreamWorks Pictures, whose No. 1 hits include Blades of Glory and Norbit. "We're kind of hoping this could be habit-forming," DreamWorks spokesman Marvin Levy said.
Disturbia launches a breakout year for LaBeouf, whose long-rumoured casting in the fourth Indiana Jones movie was confirmed Friday by producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg, one of the founders of DreamWorks.
This summer, LaBeouf provides the lead voice for Sony's animated penguin comedy Surf's Up and stars in the science-fiction saga Transformers.
"The person you want to be right now is Shia LaBeouf. I want to be Shia LaBeouf. I want to be 20 and have all this happening to me. It's really great for him," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "2007 is Shia's year. He proved he can open a movie all by himself."
Blade totals us$90m
Blades of Glory slipped to second place after two weekends on top, taking in US$14.1 million (?€10.42 million) to raise its total to US$90.2 million (?€66.66 million).
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's double-feature Grindhouse tumbled in its second weekend. Released by the Weinstein Co., Grindhouse fell to No. 10 with US$4.2 million (?€3.1 million), down a steep 63 per cent from its surprisingly weak debut of US$11.6 million (?€8.57 million) over opening weekend.
Harvey Weinstein, the company co-chairman whose previous outfit, Miramax, had great success with Tarantino and Rodriguez's films, said last week he might re-release the two filmmakers' chapters of Grindhouse as separate movies down the road. Rodriguez directed the zombie fest 'Planet Terror' and Tarantino madethe highway psycho killer tale Death Proof for Grindhouse, their homage to the gory B-movies they grew up on.
300 grossed US$4.3 m
The Warner Bros. battle epic 300 grossed US$4.3 million (?€3.18 million) to lift its total to US$200.8 million (?€148.39 million), the first movie this year to cross that mark.
Other new wide releases had so-so to poor debuts, led by Sony's Perfect Stranger, the Bruce Willis-Halle Berry thriller that took in US$11.5 million (?€8.5 million) to finish at No. 4. Berry plays a tabloid reporter who goes undercover to investigate an advertising executive (Willis) she suspects of murder.
20th Century Fox's Pathfinder, with Karl Urban as a Viking boy raised by Indians in pre-Columbus North America, came in at No. 6 with US$4.8 million (?€3.55 million).
Redline at number 11
Chicago Releasing's auto thriller Redline, a street-racing tale featuring Eddie Griffin, debuted at No. 11 with US$4 million (?€2.96 million).
First Look Pictures' animated Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres, a big-screen adaptation of the cult TV cartoon centred on three manic fast-food products, opened out of the top 12 with US$3.1 million (?€2.29 million).
Lionsgate's crime thriller Slow Burn, starring Ray Liotta as a prosecutor taking on a gang leader (LL Cool J), flopped with just US$800,000 (?€591,191.25).
In limited release, Paramount Vantage's comic drama Year of the Dog opened with a strong US$112,346 (?€83,022.47) in seven New York City and Los Angeles theatres. Starring Molly Shannon as a lonely woman who goes to extremes to fill a void after her beloved dog dies, the film expands to the top-10 markets this Friday.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
Box office top 10
| 1. | Disturbia, US$23 million | | (?€17million). |
2. | Blades of Glory, US$14.1 | million (?€10.42 million). |
3. | Meet the Robinsons, | | | US$12.1 million (?€8.94 | | million). |
4. | Perfect Stranger, US$11.5 | million (?€8.5 million). |
5. | Are We Done Yet?, | | | US$9.2 million (?€6.8 million). |
6. | Pathfinder, US$4.8 million | (?€3.55 million). |
| 7. | Wild Hogs, US$4.6 million | (?€3.4 million). |
| 8. | The Reaping, US$4.6 |
| million (?€3.4 million). |
9. | 300, US$4.3 million | | | (?€3.18 million). |
10. | Grindhouse, US$4.2 |
| million (?€3.1 million).
|
