Teen thriller stays at No. 1
The calm before the summer box-office storm was a little too calm for Hollywood’s liking.
The new Nicolas Cage science-fiction film “Next,” from Paramount Pictures, was the weekend’s biggest disappointment as the teen-oriented thriller “Disturbia” led the movie industry in ticket sales for the third straight time. It beat lackluster competition with an estimated gross of $9.1 million in the U.S. and Canada.
Overall ticket sales were down sharply from the same weekend in 2006, according to Sunday’s studio estimates, as Hollywood and movie fans awaited Friday’s release of “Spider-Man 3” and the start of the extended summer movie season.
Another thriller, Walt Disney Co.’s “The Invisible,” was No. 2 with $7.6 million, while “Next,” which had been expected to be a contender for the top spot, instead placed third with a gross of $7.2 million.
Paramount, whose DreamWorks Pictures division produced “Disturbia” with Montecito Pictures, had the top film for the fifth straight weekend. Heading into the summer, it leads the industry in market share for the first time since 2001.
The studio’s hot streak has been fueled by films such as “Disturbia” and the comedies “Norbit” and “Blades of Glory” from its DreamWorks label. But its recent Paramount-branded films such as “Next,” starring Cage as a Las Vegas magician who can see into the near future, have been far less successful.
Paramount executives declined to comment Sunday.
Cage’s results at the box office have been up and down lately. His action thriller “Ghost Rider,” released in February, was a hit, grossing $224 million worldwide.
The surprisingly successful “Disturbia,” starring up-and-coming Shia LaBeouf as a troubled young man who suspects that his neighbor is a murderer, has grossed more than $50 million domestically through three weekends.
“The Invisible,” from Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures label, fared best among a quartet of new wide releases. The mystery thriller with a low-profile cast centers on a teenager hovering between life and death.
New Line Cinema’s “Fracture” grossed an estimated $7.1 million in its second weekend, dropping a modest 36%. The murder mystery, starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling, has earned strong reviews.
The ice-skating comedy “Blades of Glory,” starring Will Ferrell, was the third of distributor Paramount’s movies to hold a spot in the weekend’s top five.
Disney’s 3-D animated “Meet the Robinsons” continued to hold up well at the box office. It could end up grossing in the $100-million range.
Even after the dreary weekend results, year-to-date box-office revenue is up 3.5% industrywide, according to research firm Media by Numbers.
Outside the U.S. and Canada, “Next” opened strong in six territories, said its international distributor, Initial Entertainment Group.
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Box-office results
Preliminary figures (in millions) in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:
*--* Movie 3-day gross Total Disturbia $9.1 $52.2
The Invisible 7.6 7.6
Next 7.2 7.2
Fracture 7.1 21.3
Blades of Glory 5.2 108.1
Meet the Robinsons 4.8 88.4
Hot Fuzz 4.8 12.4
Vacancy 4.2 13.9
The Condemned 4.0 4.0
Are We Done Yet? 3.4 43.8
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Industry totals
*--* 3-day gross Change (in millions) from 2006 $77.0 -24.5%
Year-to-date gross Change (in billions) from 2006 $2.7 +3.5%
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Source: Media by Numbers
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