'Scary Movie' still at the top

With no big movie for grownups, Scary Movie 3 had yet another formidable week, despite losing about 56 per cent of its box-office clout from the previous weekend.

Released by Dimension, a division of Disney, the film grossed $78 million, sailing into the profitable zone in just 10 days. If the current rate of attrition continues, the $40 million movie could still earn $100 million.

Yet another Disney movie, Brother Bear, overcame average reviews to take the second position with a hawkish $18.5 million in just two days, having opened on Saturday. The film, which was on two screens in New York and Los Angeles for a week, expanded to over 3,000 theatres on November 1.

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The distributor of Brother Bear did not want to open the movie on Friday because it was Halloween Day and millions of children would be out celebrating. Had Brother Bear, an animated parable about coexistence between men and animals, been released on Friday, it could easily have toppled Scary Movie 3.

The film tells the story of a young hunter transformed into a bear so that he can learn valuable life lessons.

With the arrival of The Matrix Revolutions on Wednesday and the Christmas comedy Elf on Friday, the box office should reignite next week.

The final instalment of the sci-fi trilogy with Keanu Reeves, The Matrix Revolutions, opens in over 100 countries the same week. Previous instalments have grossed about $1.2 billion worldwide.

The previous Matrix movie had an awesome opening weekend of $91.8 million last May, the best debut ever for an R-rated movie. It went on to earn about $286 million in America, slightly disappointing distributor Warner Bros. It was expected to earn $300 million, but that glory went unexpectedly to two Disney films, Finding Nemo and Pirates Of The Caribbean.

Also opening in limited release next week is Love Actually, a British import. The Universal film is an ensemble romantic comedy that tells 10 separate but intertwining stories of love mostly in London leading up to a big climax on Christmas Eve. The movie features Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Colin Firth and Rowan Atkinson.

In The Cut, the erotic and gritty thriller based on a Susanna Moore bestseller of the same name and directed by Jane Campion, expanded from a handful of theatres to some 800, and grossed a decent $2.3 million, given its specialised appeal. Though the film could eventually break even, it could certainly be one of the lowest grossing films in the career of Meg Ryan whose nude scenes created quite a furore.

The film was tenth on the box-office list, leading the teen hit Good Boy! by a few thousands. It is possible that when the actual figures come out, Good Boy!, which has grossed a strong $35 million, could replace In The Cut.

Also in a limited run, The Human Stain, based on a well-regarded Philip Roth novel that assailed political correctness on American campuses, grossed a decent $1.1 million in 160 theatres. Its real test will come when it expands in coming weeks. The movie, which also tells the story of a man who hides a terrible secret for nearly five decades, stars Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman as doomed lovers.

There wasn't much luck for Alien: The Director's Cut, Ridley Scott's new version of his 1979 gripping sci-fi horror flick that made Sigourney Weaver an international star. The film debuted with $1.04 million in 347 theatres. With the new Matrix around, it could lose many theatres next week.

With a boost from Halloween Day, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre continues to wrestle millions from the box office, with its cumulative reaching $66 million. At third place on the chart, it was followed by the feel-good Radio. The Cuba Gooding, Jr, and Ed Harris starrer slid by just about 20 per cent from the previous week.

Also suffering small declines were Runaway Jury and Mystic River at the fifth and sixth position, respectively. The latter, directed by Clint Eastwood, is expected to garner major Oscar nominations. In any event, it is headed for a decent $55-60 million gross. If it gets a few Oscars, its video and DVD sales will soar.

The legal thriller Runaway Jury did not open to great numbers, but has steadily drawn a good number of viewers and could end with a healthy $60 million in North America.

Intolerable Cruelty, the sophisticated divorce comedy, is one of those also-ran movies in North America, ending its run with about $40 million. The movie is doing better business abroad.

In several countries like France and Italy, it opened at the top or at second place. With its foreign grosses factored in, the Coen brothers film could earn a decent profit. 

The box office this week:

Rank	Film	Weekend gross	Total gross	Number of weeks
1	Scary Movie 3	$21 million (less 56% from the previous weekend)	$78.6 million	2
2	Brother Bear	$18.5 million	$18.9m	2
3	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre	$10.9 million (less 40% from the previous weekend)	$66m	3
4	Radio	$10.2 million (less 23% from the previous weekend)	$26.8m	2
5	Runaway Jury	$6.8 million (less 18% from the previous weekend)	$33.6m	3
6	Mystic River	$6.2 million (less 19.5% from the previous weekend)	$33.5m	4
7	Kill Bill Volume 1	$4.7 million (less 25% from the previous weekend)	$60.9m	4
8	School Of Rock	$4.4million (less 19% from the previous weekend)	$69m	5
9	Intolerable Cruelty	$2.6 million (less 25% from the previous weekend)	$32m	4
10	In The Cut	$2.3 million	$2.4m	2

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