SPOILS OF 'WAR' REACH $21 MIL DAY 1 GROSS VICTORY FOR SPIELBERG, CRUISE.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

``War of the Worlds'' had a solid jump-start on the Fourth of July weekend with a stellar opening-day gross of $21.2 million, the largest opening day ever for both star Tom Cruise and for distributor Paramount Pictures, the studio said Thursday.

``We're ecstatic,'' said Rob Friedman, vice chairman of the Paramount Pictures Motion Pictures Group. ``This is just the beginning of a long and successful run at box offices around the globe.''

``War,'' starring Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg, is a sci-fi adventure thriller that is a contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells' classic novel.

The previous first-day high for Cruise came back in 1994 when ``Interview With A Vampire'' took in $14.3 million on a Friday. For Paramount, its opening-day best prior to ``War'' was the $18 million grossed on a Friday by ``Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' in 2001.

In addition to its domestic ticket sales earned in 3,908 theaters, ``War'' earned an estimated $13.3 million internationally from 46 territories. The film has yet to open in 10 markets, including the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and South Korea.

Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, said the first-day totals for ``War'' were especially impressive since it is not a sequel or part of a comic book franchise.

``This is a really promising start; at the very least it is in line with expectations,'' Gray said. ``It does have Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg, but as big as their box office is, they don't have a lot of huge opening records between them. They are more known for long-burning box office runs.''

Gray said ``War'' has the potential for some stupendous six-day numbers over the Fourth of July weekend because each day can be akin to a weekend day when moviegoing levels are so much higher than during a regular weekday.

Hollywood needs another blockbuster hit right now to break out of a box office slump that has year-to-date attendance behind 2004 levels by nearly 10 percent. The movie industry is also enduring a record streak of 18 consecutive weekends where box office grosses were less than the year before.

``War'' has the misfortune, though, of opening the same weekend that ``Spider-Man 2'' did last year, when it set a then opening-day record of $40.4 million. The film went on to gross $115.8 million during the extended July Fourth weekend and earned a staggering $180.1 million in its first six days.

```War' is not likely to snap the streak because it's not as big as 'Spider-Man 2' in the comparable frame last year, and the movies below it also won't be quite as big,'' Gray said.

Cruise has been in the news in recent months more than any other time in his more than two decades as a superstar, with a very public courtship and engagement to actress Katie Holmes as well as some controversial comments the actor has made during interviews about psychiatry.

But the negative press surrounding the actor does not seem to be stopping moviegoers from seeing his latest film, just as they have turned out for most of his major studio releases. A dozen of Cruise's movies, including ``Mission: Impossible 2,'' ``Top Gun,'' ``Jerry Maguire,'' ``A Few Good Men'' and ``Rain Man'' have grossed more than $100 million at the domestic box office.

The other collaboration between Cruise and Spielberg, 2002's summer release ``Minority Report,'' was also a respectable hit with a domestic gross of $132 million.

Said Friedman: ``We've got a dream team of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg and they've both delivered yet again.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com