The Rock Passes 'Kingdom' at Box Office

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had the winning game plan at the box office. Disney's "The Game Plan," starring Johnson as a football quarterback whose bachelor lifestyle is disrupted by the arrival of a daughter he never knew he had, opened as the top weekend flick with $22.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The weekend had looked like it would be a showdown between "The Game Plan" and Universal's Middle East thriller "The Kingdom" which stars Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner as members of a U.S. team investigating a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia.

But "The Kingdom" fell short, debuting at No. 2 with a solid $17.7 million. The previous weekend's top movie, Sony's action tale "Resident Evil: Extinction," fell a steep 66 percent from its opening-weekend gross, finishing in third place with $8 million and raising its total to $36.8 million.

Johnson was the latest action hero aiming to broaden his audience with a family film. With a PG rating, "The Game Plan" took advantage of a long dry spell for kid-friendly movies, as parents with children made up two-thirds of the audience.

"There was definitely pent-up demand for people who don't necessarily want to go to the heavy R-rated films," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "The entire general audience has been underserved lately."

"The Kingdom" faced heavy competition from other violent R-rated films, among them "3:10 to Yuma," "The Brave One" and "Eastern Promises." Though not an overtly political film, "The Kingdom" also had to test audience interest for action tales set against the war on terrorism.

"If you're going to tell stories like this, you're going to tell stories of what's actually going on in our world. It's very difficult, challenging subject matter," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "Either you're going to like this kind of movie or you're not."

In limited release, Fox Searchlight's "The Darjeeling Limited" opened strongly, taking in $140,000 at two New York City theaters on Saturday and Sunday, following its premiere Friday at the New York Film Festival.

Directed by Wes Anderson ("The Royal Tenenbaums"), the film stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman as brothers on an odyssey across India.

Focus Features' World War II saga "Lust, Caution" also did well in its debut at one New York City theater, taking in $61,688. From director Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain"), the NC-17-rated "Lust, Caution" features scenes of explicit sex as a Chinese woman goes undercover in a plot to kill a man collaborating with invading Japanese forces.

Both films expand to more theaters Friday.

It was the second straight weekend that Hollywood business was down after a summer of record revenue. The top 12 movies took in $76.7 million, down 11 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Open Season" was the No. 1 movie with $23.6 million.

"What goes up must come down," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It would be really difficult to maintain three, four months of up box office, so this was kind of inevitable. It was quite a strong fall last year, so we're having a little trouble competing."

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. "The Game Plan," $22.7 million.

2. "The Kingdom," $17.7 million.

3. "Resident Evil: Extinction," $8 million.

4. "Good Luck Chuck," $6.3 million.

5. "3:10 to Yuma," $4.2 million.

6. "The Brave One," $3.8 million.

7. "Mr. Woodcock," $3 million.

8. "Eastern Promises," $2.9 million.

9. "Sydney White," $2.7 million.

10. "Across the Universe," $2.05 million.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

"Game Plan" conquers "Kingdom" at box office

In a major upset, former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson pummeled the box office competition with his new family comedy "The Game Plan," which beat presumed victor "The Kingdom" for top honors.

"The Game Plan," in which Johnson plays a football star confronted by the 8-year-old daughter he never knew about, sold about $22.7 million worth of tickets since opening Friday, said distributor Walt Disney Pictures.

Universal Pictures' terrorism thriller "The Kingdom," starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner, followed with $17.7 million in its first three days. Industry pundits had expected "The Kingdom" to open at No. 1 with sales in the low-$20 million range, with "The Game Plan" kicking off in the high-teen millions.

Critics were underwhelmed by both films, but "everybody has been starved" for a family comedy, said Chuck Viane, president of distribution at Walt Disney Co.'s domestic theatrical

unit.

Johnson's last movie, 2006's "Gridiron Gang," opened at No. 1 in September 2006 with $14.4 million. "The Game Plan" marks his biggest opening since 2002's "The Scorpion King" ($36 million).

He is not the first action hero to become a kid-friendly star. In 2005, Disney's Vin Diesel comedy "The Pacifier" surprised everyone by opening at No. 1 with $30.6 million. And Arnold Schwarzenegger had a huge hit in 1990 with his unconventional turn in "Kindergarten Cop."

"PERFECTLY REASONABLE"

"The Kingdom," meanwhile, stars Foxx as the head of a small team of FBI investigators who probe a horrific terrorist attack against American civilians in Riyadh.

A Universal spokeswoman said the opening for the $70 million film was "perfectly reasonable" given its adult rating, difficult subject matter and appeal to older audiences who generally do not rush out on the first weekend. It hoped that good exit polling results would bode well for future weeks.

Universal, a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal Inc., financed the picture with a private investment fund that has plowed $600 million into a slate of 18 movies released by Universal and Sony Pictures.

Gun Hill Road 1, formed by independent financier Relativity Media, has backed a number of disappointments, such as "All the King's Men," "Doom," "RV" and "Monster House," as well as the hits "Ghost Rider" and "The Pursuit of Happyness."

Foxx has been hit and miss with action movies: "Miami Vice" opened to $25.7 million in July 2006, and "Jarhead" to $27.7 million in November 2005. But "Stealth" crashed on takeoff with $13.3 million in August that year.

Also new to the top-10 was the Beatle-themed musical romance "Across the Universe," which jumped three places to No. 10 with $2.1 million in its third weekend. The Columbia Pictures release has earned $5.5 million. Currently playing in just 339 theaters, the film will go into broad release on October 12.

Last weekend's champ, Screen Gems' zombie horror "Resident Evil: Extinction," fell to No. 3 with $8 million, taking its 10-day haul to $36.8 million, followed by the comedy "Good Luck Chuck" with $6.3 million and the Western "3:10 to Yuma" with $4.2 million. The respective totals for the Lionsgate releases rose to $23.6 million and $43.9 million.

Columbia and Screen Gems are units of Sony Corp. Lionsgate is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com