Ashton Kutcher scores at USBO

Ashton Kutcher scored the first big hit of his young career with The Butterfly Effect over the weekend, as the suspense film earned a decent $17 million in three days. The 25-year-old actor, who has been making headlines because of his romantic involvement with the much older Demi Moore, has been known for medium-sized comedy hits like Dude, Where's My Car?

While over four million viewers across North America were apparently eager to see the film, Ashton's first stab at a serious subject was not welcomed by critics. The Butterfly Effect has earned mostly downward reviews.

Though dislodged from its perch last week, Along Came Polly earned about $16.4 million, making over $53 million in ten days. The comedy, made for less than $50 million, may earn its investment in another two weeks and stands a good chance of reaching the $100 million benchmark.

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Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks, which had awful luck all through last year but for the success of the small budgeted House Of Sand And Fog opened the new year with a poorly received comedy, Win A Date With Tad Hamilton. The film opened at third spot with an insignificant $7.3 million.

Swimming steadily, Tim Burton's Big Fish earned $7.1 million at the fourth place. Though not a runaway hit, the film that fuses fantasy with the reality of a troubled father-son relationship, is approaching $50 million. It was a no-show at the Golden Globe awards, but has earned decent word-of-mouth reputation. Big Fish should become profitable if it enjoys a fine weather run abroad.

Return Of The King, which earned Golden Globe awards for the Best Picture (drama) and Director (Peter Jackson), was just a few thousand dollars shy of the Big Fish gross and saw its cumulative grosses reach $338 million. Worldwide, the film has earned about $890 million.

Comedies continue to have a strong impact on the box-office as the Steve Martin laffer, Cheaper By The Dozen, reached $122 million. On the other hand, the emotional drama Cold Mountain, which was considered a risky box-office bet, is also a steady winner. With $72.5 million already grossed, it stands an excellent chance of reaching the $100 million mark. Though Golden Globes ignored it for most part, the film, which was nominated for eight Golden Globes, has emerged as a quite an audience pleaser.

While most of the top 10 films declined by a modest 25-35 per cent over the weekend, the motorbike drama Torque crashed in its second week by about 55 per cent. It was followed in the ninth position by the hit comedy, Something's Gotta Give, which fetched its lead actress Diane Keaton a Golden Globe. With a $107 million gross, the film is still drawing audiences in significant numbers.

Warner Bros relaunched its sleeper hit Mystic River on the eve of Golden Globe awards and saw pleasant results as the film shot back into the top 10 list with $3.4 million and a total of $59 million. The film, which was shown last week in a few hundred theatres, is now showing in over 1,400 theatres. Naturally, its box-office performance jumped by about 700 per cent as it enters its 16th week.

Dropping out of the top 10, Tom Cruise starrer The Last Samurai is heading for a rather disappointing $115 million in North America. But overseas, the $140 million movie is a superhit, proving Cruise's enduring appeal abroad. Set in Japan during a civil war period in the late 19th century, The Last Samurai is a superhit in that country, with a $90 million gross and plenty to come. It has grossed over $200 million outside America. Box-office experts expect it to gross at least $100 million more.

The tough and gritty Monster, which fetched Charlize Theron a Golden Globe (in the dramatic actress category), is shaping into quite an arthouse hit. The R-rated movie, which is adding more theatres week by week, is now in 300 theatres.

Based on the incidents in the life of America's first female serial killer who was electrocuted two years ago in Florida, the film has grossed $6 million -- quite a feat for a downbeat venture. Next week, it will play in more than 500 theatres.

The box office this week:

Rank	Film	Weekend gross	Total gross	Number of weeks
1	The Butterfly Effect	$17 million	$17m	New
2	Along Came Polly	$16.4 million (less 40% from the previous weekend)	$53m	2
3	Win a Date with Tad Hamilton	$7.3 million	$7.32m	New
4	Big Fish	$7million (less 37% from the previous weekend)	$49m	7
5	Return of the King	$6.4 million (less 33% from the previous weekend)	$338m	6
6	Cheaper by the Dozen	$6.2 million (less 30% from the previous weekend)	$122m	5
7	Cold Mountain	$5 million (less 26% from the previous weekend)	$72m	5
8	Torque	$4.5 million (less 55% from the previous weekend)	$17m	2
9	Something's Gotta Give	$4 million (less 30% from the previous weekend)	$107m	7
10	Mystic River	$3.8 million	$58m	16

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