The Departed sent Leatherface and Jessica Simpson packing
as Martin Scorsese's all-star crime drama hauled in nearly $27 million
to dominate the weekend box office.
Starring Leonardo
DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg in a tale of
subterfuge and betrayal between Boston cops and Irish mobsters, The
Departed represented a new personal milestone for Scorsese. The
loose remake of the Hong Kong action film Infernal Affairs took
in $26.9 million from Friday to Sunday to eclipse the director's
previous best, 1991's Cape Fear, which debuted at number one in
November 1991 with $10.2 million and ended up grossing $79.1 million.
At 3,017 sites, the R-rated Warner Bros. film averaged $8,912
per screen, best among all movies in wide release.
Paul
Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations,
credited studio marketers who placed "the pedigree of the movie front
and center" for the film's success.
"It's a well-deserved
number one," he said, noting the movie is powered by the talents of
"four major stars and a legendary director," has garnered generally good
reviews and is positioned for an Oscar run.
While finishing
a distant second, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
carved up a nice slice of the box office with $18.5 million.
The R-rated prequel, which showed the formative years of the
power-tool-friendly psycho, had a solid body count, averaging $6,563 at
2,280 locations. Still, the New Line entry didn't outgross (moneywise,
that is) the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which
whirred in with $28 million and eventually tallied $80.1 million, and
with Halloween approaching, Leatherface is going to get some scary
competition with both The Grudge 2 and Saw III opening
soon.
Meanwhile, the weekend third major newcomer, Simpson's
Employee of the Month, was a bust. The nominal comedy, costarring
Dane Cook, finished in fourth with $11.4 million. The PG-13 Lionsgate
release averaged just $4,423 at 2,579 locations.
Last week's
chart-topper, Open Season, had a strong second weekend, dropping
just 34 percent to $15.6 million in third place. The family-friendly
Sony 'toon has hunted up $43.8 million in 10 days.
But a
couple other flicks fell flat in week two.
Kevin Costner and
Ashton Kutcher's soggy action drama The Guardian sank 47 percent,
down from second to fifth place with $9.6 million to bring its total to
$32.3 million. And the nerd comedy School for Scoundrels appears
to have completely flunked out, falling 60 percent from fourth to
seventh place with $3.4 million for a total of $14 million.
In limited release nothing came close to usurping The Queen. The
PG-13 Miramax release, starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II,
added eight sites for a total of 11 and averaged a royal $36,543 per
theater for $401,978. That's a gain of 229 percent over last week and
brings the film's 10-day gross to $634,788.
Shortbus,
an unrated Think Film release, got off to a strong start. Playing at
just six screens in the U.S. and Canada, the relationship comedy
directed by John Cameron Mitchell averaged $20,166 for $121,000. It will
open at 10 more sites next weekend.
Finally, Little
Children, an R-rated New Line drama starring Kate Winslet and
Jennifer Connelly, opened at five theaters. It averaged $19,591--best
among the new films on the art-house circuit--for a total of $97,953.
Overall, it was another up weekend, with the top 12 movies
registering $100.7 million. That's a gain of 16 percent over last
weekend and 14 percent over this time last year.
Here's a
rundown of the top-grossing films from Friday to Sunday based on final
studio figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. The
Departed, $26.9 million
2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The
Beginning, $18.5 million
3. Open Season, $15.6
million
4. Employee of the Month, $11.4 million
5. The Guardian, $9.6 million
6. Jackass: Number
Two, $6.5 million
7. School for Scoundrels, $3.4
million
8. Jet Li's Fearless, $2.3 million
9.
Gridiron Gang, $2.2 million
10. The Illusionist,
$1.9 million
In Theaters 
