FROM ANTARCTICA WITH LOVE `HAPPY FEET' NOSES OUT BOND.Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer Dancing penguins stepped on the toes of the new James Bond in a battle royal of the tuxedos -- proving a license to chill is better than a license to kill at the box office. The animated ``Happy Feet'' just pipped the new 007 opus ``Casino Royale'' -- featuring the debut of Daniel Craig as a not-so-suave Bond -- by less than $2 million. With an opening weekend gross of $42.3 million, ``Happy Feet'' gave Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . the biggest animated movie opening in its long history, while ``Casino Royale'' finished a strong runner-up with a take of $40.6 million, 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. studio estimates Sunday. ``It was nice to win the weekend; I didn't expect it going in,'' said Warner Bros. distribution head Dan Fellman. ``I think we're extremely well-positioned to play strong through Thanksgiving Thanksgiving annual U.S. holiday celebrating harvest and yearly blessings; originated with Pilgrims (1621). [Am. Culture: EB, IX: 922] See : America Thanksgiving national holiday with luxurious dinner as chief ritual. [Am. Pop. and Christmas. We will be on the screen until the ice melts.'' Contributing to Warner's first place finish was the giant-screen IMAX IMAX Noun a film projection process that produces an image ten times larger than standard version of ``Happy Feet,'' responsible for $2.4 million of the movie's total gross and giving IMAX its biggest animated movie opening ever. Sony Pictures Entertainment, which released ``Casino Royale,'' seemed content with second place given the film's 2 1/2-hour running time, resulting in fewer showings per day. Craig's first outing as the British secret agent is the 21st official Bond movie, the most recent of which was 2002's ``Die Another Day,'' which featured Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places
``We're ecstatic ec·stat·ic adj. 1. Marked by or expressing ecstasy. 2. Being in a state of ecstasy; joyful or enraptured. [French extatique, from Greek ekstatikos, from with our opening for `Casino Royale,''' said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of distribution. ``It's certainly the best-reviewed Bond ever, and people are just eating it up. Daniel Craig is amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. as the new James Bond, and it feels like we're not only satisfying die-hard Bond fans but creating new fans as well. ``This is a fantastic start for a new Bond.'' Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations Co. said it is no surprise that ``Happy Feet'' and ``Casino Royale'' had a photo finish because ``the movies are so closely matched in awareness and enthusiasm. Audiences had to see these movies. It was a battle royal at the box office.'' But the two films combined could not match last year's record November opening of ``Harry Potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: People
This resulted in box office receipts for the top 12 films falling short of last year's by 22 percent. Still, box office receipts have been up over 2005 figures 27 out of the last 35 weekends, with year-to-date revenue up by nearly 6 percent. Falling to third place after two weekends at the top was the Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen[1] (born 13 October, 1971) is an English comedian, writer and actor most noted for his comic characters Borat (a Kazakh reporter), Ali G (a junglist-hip hop gangsta wannabe comedy ``Borat,'' which took in an estimated $14.35 million for an impressive three-week total of $90.5 million. It was followed by Disney's ``The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'' in fourth place with $8.2 million ($51.6 million to date) and DreamWorks' animated ``Flushed flush 1 v. flushed, flush·ing, flush·es v.intr. 1. To turn red, as from fever, embarrassment, or strong emotion; blush. 2. Away'' rounding out the top five with a weekend take of $6.8 million ($48.8 million to date). Final box office totals will be released today. greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3758 TOP 10 MOVIES Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released today. 1. ``Happy Feet,'' $42.3 million. 2. ``Casino Royale,'' $40.6 million. 3. ``Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,'' $14.4 million. 4. ``The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,'' $8.2 million. 5. ``Flushed Away,'' $6.8 million. 6. ``Stranger Than Fiction'' $6.6 million. 7. ``Babel Babel (bā`bəl) [Heb.,=confused], in the Bible, place where Noah's descendants (who spoke one language) tried to build a tower reaching up to heaven to make a name for themselves. ,'' $2.9 million. 8. ``Saw III,'' $2.8 million. 9. ``The Departed'' $2.6 million. 10. ``The Queen'' $2.3 million. CAPTION(S): box Box: TOP 10 MOVIES (see text) |
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