`TALLADEGA NIGHTS' REVS UP FOR BIG OPENING DEBUT WEEKEND OF MORE THAN $30 MILLION EXPECTED.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

As a movie actor, former ``Saturday Night Live'' star Will Ferrell has had his box office hits (``Elf''), flops (``Bewitched'') and in-betweens (``Kicking and Screaming'').

His new release, ``Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,'' is expected to drive straight into the hit category when it opens today, with box office prognosticators projecting a debut weekend gross of $30 million-plus.

``This seems to be the kind of picture that people want to see Will Ferrell in, unlike `Bewitched' or `Melinda and Melinda' where he wasn't able to help the box office because those movies served a different audience,'' said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo.

Ferrell's movie, released by Sony Pictures Entertainment, is a comedy about the world of NASCAR and its corporate sponsors. ``Talladega'' enters the multiplex in 3,800 locations with the animated ``Barnyard'' and the horror film ``The Descent'' as the other two wide releases making their debuts.

``I think after a month of action movies in July, audiences are ready for a mainstream comedy,'' said Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. ``It will be a decisive victory for `Talladega.'''

Paramount Pictures is hoping to attract the family audience and has booked ``Barnyard'' into 3,000 theaters. It is the third animated film to make its debut in as many weekends following ``Monster House'' and ``The Ant Bully.''

``The family audience is getting split three ways.'' Pandya said. ``I think what `Barnyard' has going for it is that it's an all-out comedy and typically when kids go to see an animated movie, they want to laugh.''

Pandya also gives ``The Descent'' a good shot at debuting in the top five and making some decent money as the Lionsgate release bows in just more than 2,000 locations.

``This will reach the core movie audience,'' he said. ``Lionsgate has the market cornered when it comes to low-budget but brutal and gory horror films like the `Saw' movies and `Hostel.' They've raised the volume when it comes to brutality and violence, and horror fans respond to that.''

Also new this weekend is the Robin Williams psychological thriller, ``The Night Listener.'' Released by Miramax Films, it is debuting in 1,400 locations and will be going for a slice of the adult market.

Disney's mega-hit ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' appears to still have plenty of life in it. ``Pirates'' surpassed last weekend's No. 1 movie, ``Miami Vice,'' in weekday grosses to finish in first place on Wednesday. ``Pirates'' has earned $366.4 million domestically after less than a month in theaters.

```Pirates' should continue to sail on,'' said Gray. ``It's on its way to topping the $400 million mark and could end up doing more than `Miami Vice' this weekend.''

``Vice,'' starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, had toppled ``Pirates'' from the top spot last weekend with a $25 million gross. But its grip on the box office crown has been a bit slippery.

``I don't think the word of mouth is very good and it will drop to second or third place,'' Pandya said. ``People aren't liking it so much.''

But people are liking ``Little Miss Sunshine,'' the Fox Searchlight comedy about a dysfunctional family that did gangbuster business in extremely limited release last weekend. It expands to 60 more locations today.

``It certainly is positioned by Searchlight as its breakout movie this summer,'' said Gray. ``They are aggressively rolling it out just like they did with `Thank You For Smoking' and other pictures. They seem very good at taking little comedies and finding an audience for them.''

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(color) ``Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,'' starring Will Ferrell, opens today with a projected box office weekend gross of $30 million-plus.