'TROY' BRINGS BOX OFFICE TO HEEL BRAD PITT EPIC CONQUERS WITH $45.6 MILLION.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer The Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .' epic ``Troy'' conquered the competition at the box office over the weekend with an estimated domestic gross of $45.6 million, giving star Brad Pitt (as warrior Achilles) and director Wolfgang Petersen the biggest openings of their careers. ``Troy,'' which also stars Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom[1] (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He had his break-through role in the early 2000s as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings[2] and blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean and Peter O'Toole Noun 1. Peter O'Toole - British actor (born in Ireland in 1932) O'Toole, Peter Seamus O'Toole Emerald Isle, Hibernia, Ireland - an island comprising the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland , earned an additional $54 million in 47 foreign markets, giving it an international gross of approximately $100 million, studio officials estimated Sunday. ``We're very pleased with the opening,'' said Dan Fellman, Warners' president of domestic distribution. ``The good news is our exit interviews were exceptionally good. It just plays very well.'' The film's R rating and its 163-minute running time were factors in ``Troy'' not achieving even higher numbers, but it still did better than the $34.8 million opening for `Gladiator gladiator (Latin; swordsman) Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. ,'' the 2000 epic it is most compared to. ``We've always watched 'Gladiator' as our benchmark with the similar content and running time and that went on to do $187 million,'' Fellman said. The audience for ``Troy'' was split between men and women, while half of the audience was under the age of 30. The film has yet to open in such key territories as Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy, where ``we are expecting huge results,'' said Varonika Kwan-Rubinek, Warners' president of international distribution. Last weekend's champ, Universal Pictures' monster movie ``Van Helsing,'' suffered a steep 61 percent fall in its second weekend in theaters. Still, ``Helsing'' managed to take second place with an estimated $20.1 million in ticket sales. It has a cumulative domestic gross of $84.5 million and an international gross of $95 million for a worldwide total of $179.5 million in 10 days. ``We are going to see a lot of these big drops this summer; it happens every summer,'' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``When films open at $50 million-plus, they can't sustain it.'' But Paramount Pictures' ``Mean Girls'' dropped a mere 26 percent in its third weekend to finish in third place. The film has grossed an impressive $55.3 million so far. Sony's ``Breakin' All the Rules,'' the weekend's only other wide release, bowed in fourth place with an estimated $5.3 million in ticket sales. The documentary ``Super Size Me'' appears to be a success story in the making as it managed to land in 11th place despite being in only 113 theaters. The irreverent look at obesity in America - written and directed by Morgan Spurlock - took in an estimated $723,000 in ticket sales and has made $1.4 million in two weeks. One of the film's key hooks is Spurlock being filmed as his health declines during a 30-day diet consisting of only McDonald's food at every meal. ``Documentaries and films like this rely on news stories more than anything, and, with the country obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with low-carb diets right now, (Spurlock's) timing was perfect,'' Dergarabedian said. ``It's creating a little groundswell ground·swell n. 1. A sudden gathering of force, as of public opinion: a groundswell of antiwar sentiment. 2. .'' Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com TOP 10 MOVIES Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. theaters, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released today. 1. ``Troy,'' $45.6 million 2. ``Van Helsing,'' $20.1 million. 3. ``Mean Girls,'' $10.1 million. 4. ``Breakin' All the Rules,'' $5.3 million. 5. ``Man on Fire,'' $5.2 million. 6. ``13 Going on 30,'' $4.2 million. 7. ``New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Minute,'' $3.7 million. 8. ``Laws of Attraction For other uses, see: Laws of attraction (science); Law of Attraction (new age). Laws of Attraction is a 2004 American romantic comedy directed by Peter Howitt, based on a story by Aline Brosh McKenna and screenplay by Robert Harling and McKenna. ,'' $2 million. 9. ``Kill Bill - Vol. 2,'' $1.6 million. 10. ``Godsend god·send n. Something wanted or needed that comes or happens unexpectedly. [Alteration of Middle English goddes sand, God's message : goddes, genitive of God, God ,'' $1 million. CAPTION(S): box |
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