CAGE TAKES A WILD TRIP TO FIRST PLACE 'GHOST RIDER' SURPASSES SONY'S HOT EXPECTATIONS.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ

Staff Writer

The Nicolas Cage adventure film "Ghost Rider" led the movie industry to a record Presidents Day weekend at the box office with an unexpectedly robust $51.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Monday.

Based on the popular Marvel Comics books, "Ghost Rider" set a number of box office benchmarks: highest February opening ever, biggest opening of any 2007 release and biggest Presidents Day weekend opening. It also opened bigger than any previous movie starring Cage.

Finishing a solid second was the new Disney release "Bridge to Terabithia," which managed an estimated gross of $29 million over the four days to give the studio the biggest February opening of its long history.

"It has turned out to be a sensational weekend for the business, and that's fabulous news for everybody," said Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Distribution unit. "When all kinds of movies are seen, that helps the entire business."

Rounding out the top three was the Eddie Murphy comedy "Norbit," which opened in first place last week. The Paramount Pictures release took in an estimated $20.7 million for a stellar two-week total of $62.7 million.

The total haul for the four-day weekend is estimated to be about $185 million, blasting the previous record of $164 million set in 2003, according to the box office tracking firm Media By Numbers. It also stopped a six-week streak of down weekends when revenues came up short compared with the same weekend in 2006.

"Either by design or by accident, this was the perfect mix of films," said Media By Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian. "Each movie targeted a different audience, which allowed each to do well and culminated in this giant weekend."

"Ghost Rider" was the third Sony Pictures Entertainment release to open in first place in 2007, continuing the studio's record run in 2006, when it had 13 movies open in first place and worldwide grosses exceeding $3 billion.

"To continue that momentum into 2007 really feels great," said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of domestic distribution. "We felt we had the goods and hoped to open big. Opening on the mid-30 (millions) would have been terrific, so this goes beyond our expectations. It's playing like a summer movie."

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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Top 10 movies

These are the estimated ticket sales Friday through Monday, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final four-day figures will be released today.

1. "Ghost Rider," $51.5 million

2. "Bridge to Terabithia,"

$29 million

3. "Norbit," $20.7 million

4. "Music & Lyrics," $16 million

5. "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little

Girls," $14.3 million

6. "Breach," $12.3 million

7. "Hannibal Rising," $6.5 million

8. "Because I Said So,"

$5.9 million

9. "Night at the Museum,"

$4.7 million

10."The Messengers," $4.4 million

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Top 10 movies (see text)